The Ultimate Antidote
by Matdeception
Summary: A splitting headache, a dangerous game, and a mother with terrible secrets threatened to turn Ranma's world upside down.  The long promised revision is underway.
1. Chapter 1

The Ultimate Antidote

Written By: Matdeception

Revision Begun: 7/16/2011

Revision Finished: 7/20/11

Ranma 1/2 Notes: This takes place after the conclusion of the Manga.

X-Men: Evolution Notes: The timeline is mostly intact, but with episodes switched around in the second year. The story begins after the HeX Factor, but before the Shadowverse episode.

Authors Notes: Kudos to Psyckosama for his assistance in this chapter.

Additional Note: Inverted_helix of the TFF forum deserves recognition for getting me interested in finally doing this re-write.

Editor/Beta: inverted_helix at the TFF forums.

* * *

><p>Chapter One: Discovery<p>

* * *

><p>Flames filled his vision, buffeting the area with searing death as winds howled around him. Within the cyclone of scorching heat he could see him. Tall, regal, proud aloft wings of purest white. His fierce eyes alight with respectful hate as the flames dancing around him cocooned like an aura that obeyed his merest whim.<p>

He had to stop him.

The God-King raised his fiery claw, holding Kekajan as it's head spun rapidly and absorbed the raging fires and intense heat until it glowed white. "Now, mortal." He hissed, pulling the staff back, "You die."

* * *

><p>He snapped awake, "What the..." he screamed, intense mind numbing agony blasting through his skull. He flopped down, scrunching up in a fetal position and clenching his head tightly. It was as if an army of tinker gnomes had descended on him in rage, the sheer intense agony threatening to knock him out.<p>

Genma rolled over, smacking the boy with a sign [Quiet boy!] flip [I'm trying to sleep!]

Ranma didn't even flinch, the miniscule pain of the hit nothing in comparison to the skullsplitting agony he was enduring.

Stumbling into the bathroom, he approached the sink and turned the water on. The pain had finally subsided, and it left him feeling like shit as it always did.. "God..." he grunted, splashing his face.

The headaches had first started a week after he had returned from Jusenkyo with the others. At first it wasn't anything but a dull throb behind his eyes, but just after the failed wedding, the pain had been getting steadily worse. If that wasn't enough, the gods had seemed vengeful enough to cause nearly debilitating waves of nausea to shortly follow the head splitting migraines.

Crawling to the toilet, he hunched over and waited. He didn't have to wait long.

Genma tiredly yawned, completely ignorant as Soun swapped pieces of the Shogi board around.

Feigning innocence as his friend frowned at the board, Soun coolly commented, "Tired, my old friend?"

"Stupid boys been keeping me up all night with his whining." The Saotome Patriarch frowned thoughtfully. Wasn't he about to win this game? How the devil is he suddenly losing the match? He shook that thought off, senility must be catching up to him. "Always complaining about his head hurting, feeling sick, acting like a little girl."

Soun hmmed thoughtfully, "Well, has he been to the doctors?"

"That boy wouldn't go to the doctors unless he had no choice." Genma shrugged, "He isn't hurt physically, no broken limbs or anything, so he doesn't think it's serious."

"Ah, maybe you should make him go anyway? Just to be sure it isn't anything serious." Soun spared a glance towards the dojo, as the boy in question quickly entered. Wasn't Akane training in there?

Genma shrugged, "It's a thought. If he did go, I'd finally be able to sleep again." he chuckled, jokingly adding "Hell, if it gets really bad, we could just set him in front of the altar and make him say yes while he's out of..." he trailed off, blinking.

"I think..." Soun, his mind mirroring his friends, "... yes, I think you may be on to something with that."

Genma smirked, "Right. We'll let him suffer for awhile.."

* * *

><p>"Headaches?" Akane glanced at the boy with some concern.<p>

"Yeah. Bad ones too." Ranma grunted, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. "Pop knows about em, but he doesn't seem too worried."

Akane frowned, grabbing a cinderblock from the floor, "When did it start?"

"Eh.. since the China thing." he allowed, closing his eyes. "They just come an go, y'know?"

"Maybe you were hurt more then you thought?" Akane suggested. She hadn't been in her right mind most of that battle, trapped as a doll with her spirit slowly fading away. Everything she knew about it came mainly from second hand knowledge, what she learned from Ryoga and Ranma. Though, the jerk was being quiet about it, mostly anyway.

"Pfeh. Only thing that hurt was getting slapped by a nameless tomboy I nearly died saving." he teased.

Akane bristled. She hadn't meant to slap him out of the blue like that, there was so much happening all at once it had just come out of her. "Meh... you probably deserved that!" No, waking up naked in the arms of a perverted boy hadn't set well with her, not at all.

He shrugged, pushing away from the dojo wall, "Whatever. Thanks for listening."

"Wait a second." she sighed, tone becoming tender, "Sorry about before. I'm just a little stressed since the wedding fiasco."

Ranma spared her a glance, "It's no biggy." shrugging as he headed for the door, "It'll probably go away in a few weeks like pop said." he waved her worries off, "I'm meetin up with Ryoga, later."

Biting her lower lip nervously, she watched him go.

* * *

><p>The soft crackling of the camp fire mesmerized him, it's angry tendrils charring the surface of the brittle wood and soft leaves that fueled it's existence. Slowly, the fire burned them into ash, the soft winds raising the fiery particles into the air and beyond. It was just a simple camp fire, but often his only constant companion on the long roads he trekked. He couldn't remember when he first started seeing the flames as anything more then what they were. It didn't matter, he supposed. At least the fire hadn't tried to make his life hell, not of it's own choice, anyway.<p>

"Yo!"

Speak of making his life hell. Ryoga waved, "Hey. Didn't think you'd be showin up."

Ranma shrugged, hands over head, "I promised, didn't I?"

"You're late though."

"Heh." he sat down opposite the boy from the fire, "Sorry bout that."

Watching him through the flames of the camp fire, Ryoga remembered why he even bothered to meet Ranma like this. The flames served as a constant reminder of their time in China, a constant note of what happened, and how close they all had come to losing their lives. Thinking of it that way, he descision to do this firmed. It was better to suffer with the bastard, then risk another Jusendo.

"How's Akari doing?" the question came out of the blue, breaking him from his thoughts.

Ryoga blinked, chuckling as he nervously scratched the back of his neck, "Ah... ain't too bad. She's been pretty busy lately with the farm, Katshuhito's got one of their stock pregnant." he sighed, "Yep, little baby pigs due any week now."

"Ahh, Ryoga's going to be a daddy?" Ranma snickered,

"Shut up." he snapped.

"Heh." Ranma shook his head, amused. "We gonna do this?"

"Thought you'd never ask." he smirked.

Ranma stared.

Ryoga stared back.

The pigtailed martial artist sighed, "You have no idea what to do, do you?"

"Er... ah..." the lost boy grimaced, "... no."

"Thought so." Ranma frowned, "Well, we're here trying to figure out how to use Ki without the emotional dependancy, right?"

"That's the plan." he affirmed, adding more kindling to the fire.

Ranma stayed silent for sometime, thinking about the conumdrum. They were searching to purify their Ki of emotions, a dubious prospect as far as he knew. How do you get rid of something that is pivotal in the utilization of a power source? It's like trying to get rid of the oil in a car; Sure it could be done, but would the car work afterward? Okay, maybe he was thinking about this the wrong way. Instead of removing emotion from Ki, why not cancel it after the fact?

He blinked, an idea coming to mind. "Hey, I want to try something."

Ryoga raised an eyebrow, frowning slightly as Ranma scooted around the fire and sat right next to him.

"The whole problem with Ki is, as far as we've been taught, or figured out for ourselves, is that it needs emotion in order to be utilized right?" Ranma explained, "We're sitting here trying to figure out how to utilize Ki with out tapping into our emotions at all, but maybe we're going at it from the wrong angle."

"How do you figure?" Ryoga frowned.

Ranma hmmed, "Well, it's like trying to get a fire with out fuel. Emotions are the fuel, at least for ignition, but once it's burning it can consume something else." he paused, scratching his head, "Okay, that doesn't make much sense."

"No, it doesn't really." Ryoga sighed, "But I think I get what you're saying. Use emotions to generate Ki, then some how cancel the emotion from the Ki."

"Yeah." Ranma looked at the guy, "We're pretty much opposite ends of the Ki spectrum, right? Confidence versus depression..."

Ryoga blinked, "Wait, are you saying we should cancel out the emotions of the other after the Ki is formed?" he boggled at that, "I don't even know how we'd start something like that."

"Yeah, me either." Ranma frowned, thinking. What could they use? Hell, how would they get their aura's to interact and cancel the emotional requirement of Ki from the other? Hell, the more he thought about it the more he realized it didn't even make sense. How could they even mix their Ki together, and even if they did come up with a way what the hell would happen?

"Hey!" The pigtailed martial artist blinked, grinning suddenly, "I got an idea." he glanced at the boy, "We mix our Ki blasts while their forming, see what happens. What do you think?"

Ryoga shrugged, hand snapping out as a small green ball of Ki erupted into being.

Ranma rolled his eyes, placing his hand over the Ki ball. He cleared his mind, slowly, every so slowly summoning his own Ki ball into his hand. At first the ki balls pushed each other away, a sure sign of how dynamically opposed they were, but neither Ranma nor Ryoga gave ground. It almost felt like they were forcing them together, like when crushed rocks together, but eventually they gave way.

Ryoga blinked as two ki balls became one, his depression powered ball mixing with Ranma's confidence powered ball. It was curious, on every possible level he could image. As the compressed together, green mixed with blue forming mix of both, but that was a mere physicality. It was the emotion surging through him from the act, a curious sense of... contentment, yeah, contentment. It was almost an alien experience, but feeling it here and now reminded him of the few times he had felt it...

For himself, Ranma grimaced as the balls mixed, feeling a surge of discomfort before the energies mixed and cancelled each other out. He tasted that feeling, traced it's texture in his mind, let it slowly resonate with the rest of him. How long did they stay there, merely teasing and tasting this strange feeling of mixed Ki? He didn't know, but after a while he pulled his hand away.

Ryoga frowned, still holding the mixed Ki ball. "What now?"

Ranma grinned, pointing to a nearby boulder, "Toss it, see if it's any different from the Shi Shi Houkadan."

The Lost Boy shrugged, idly tossing it. The results were explosive, literally, as the orb came into contact with the boulder and violently erupted in a greenish blue conflagaration.

Ranma and Ryoga both rolled back, thrown by the concussive force of the unexpected eruption. When the dust cleared, they tentatively raised their heads, jaws dropped in awe at the massive crater left by their mixed Ki. In tandem, they breath out in awe, "That was awesome!"

Ryoga blinked, eying the pigtailed boy seriously. "Okay, now what?"

"Now..." Ranma frowned, "Well, now we try to recreate whatever that was without resorting to mixing our Ki."

"On our own?" Ryoga frowned, shrugging. "Let's do this."

* * *

><p>"Oh! Auntie Saotome!" Kasumi smiled her bright little smile, stepping back to let the aging Saotome Matriarch in. "How good of you to visit!"<p>

Nodoka smiled pleasantly. Ah that Kasumi-chan, always so polite. She was definitely her favorite. "Thank you."

Closing the door behind her, the Eldest Tendo daughter said, "Oh, if I knew you were coming to visit, I'd have cooked more." she sighed, "I'm sorry."

"You do too much Kasumi dear." Poor girl, Nodoka sigh interanlly. Kasumi was such an angel, willingly sacrificing so much of herself to care for her family. Her heart went out to the young lady, it really did. "I'm not here for long. I came to speak with my husband and son."

"Oh, Uncle Genma's with daddy, but Ranma's isn't here at the moment." Kasumi replied cheerfully. "Here, let me show you to him."

"Thank you, dear." Nodoka nodded, following the girl even as she sighed internally. Where was that son of hers?

* * *

><p>"I sense... a disturbance..." Soun suddenly spoke, voice laced with severe worry, enough to set the aging Patriarch of the Saotome clan on edge.<p>

Genma sweated, eyes widening in surprise as the glass filled with sake began to tremble, it's calm surface erupting into ripples each second that passed by. Danger was coming, a danger most ominous to be sure. "Tendo... I have a plan." the vibrations were increasing, the danger was almost upon them!

"What is it Saotome!" the man hissed, eyes narrowed in paranoia with a sheen of sweat trailed down his brow, "Is it the master?"

"When the creature appears, we'll attack it by surprise. Surely the two of us can take it down." Genma intoned darkly, fists clenching in preperation for a most epic of battles.

"Ah, quite right Saotome." Soun grunted, idly pulling a throwing knife from his sleeve.

Noises from the hall sounded, alerting the two men to the upcoming struggle, "We must be quick, Tendo!"

Two figures emerged, Genma nor Soun taking the time to study them anymore then that, as Soun launched towards the women in preparation for a fierce battle. About half way through his trip, he noticed Genma wasn't with him, in fact his friend was rolling on the ground with a beach ball.

[I'm just a cute innocent panda!]

"I'll get you for this, Saotome!" he swore mentally, before the battle was joined!

* * *

><p>"Honestly father!" Kasumi frowned, holding a damp washcloth to his forehead, "Attacking Auntie like that! You could have hurt some one! What ever possessed you to do something like that?"<p>

"Ugh..." Soun moaned in response. Who could have known Nodoka was so vicious in a fight?

Calmly sipping her tea, Nodoka smiled sweetly, "Oh, don't worry Kasumi-chan. He only surprised me, I'm sure it was an accident." setting her tea cup down, "I'm here to talk with my son and Genma. Kasumi-chan told me Ranma was out, do you know when he will return?"

"I want the blue dogi, papa!" Soun mumbled, out of it.

"I see." she sighed, before looking to her husband, "Genma dear..."

Genma sweated, "Uh.. yes, No-chan?" he hadn't seen her thrash anyone that bad since they got married. Poor Soun. Whatever had her on edge though, he hoped it didn't have anything to do with him.

"I would like to ask Ranma out tomorrow evening, to get to know my son a little better. He wouldn't object, would he?" she asked with innocent curiosity.

"Ah... I don't think so..." If having Ranma spend time with the woman calmed her down, lest she find some reason to commit Patricide, it's all for the best. Genma nodded; Yes, it was for the best indeed.

Nodoka smiled brightly, "That's good." she stood up eloquently, "Oh... one more thing..."

Genma grimaced. Here it comes.

"... I want a nice quiet evening with him, dear. Could you arrange..." she wasn't fooling anyone with the way she stressed that word. "...for no fiancée interference?"

"Heh... heh..." Bedamned the woman's soft sweet attitude. That wasn't a question, he knew better then to think it was, "Of course No-chan. I'll make sure of it!"

"Good boy."

* * *

><p>Ranma groggily walked down the late night streets. He was so damn tired, he wouldn't be surprised if he passed out right then and there. Ryoga's idea to train their Ki had been interesting, to be sure, and after eight long damn hours of meditating and basically blundering around, they had finally yeilded some results. It had been easier for him, thanks to Cologne's training in the Soul of Ice, to focus on summoning his energy with out emotions, but Ryoga lacked any such training. Still, despite the slow going, he, and Ryoga nearly an hour later, had finally been able to summon a small aura comprised of their mixed Ki rather then Ki diluted with a single extreme emotion. The effort had nearly knocked the both of them out, which only served to remind him how much more training they had to go before they truly mastered their auras.<p>

Damn this was going to take awhile.

Summoning the strength, Ranma barely managed to clear the outer wall of the Tendo Dojo. Landing lightly, he slowly stumbled towards the house. At least one good thing came from all that training. While he had been meditating, his splitting headaches all but vanished on him. Just a dull ringing sound in his ears remained. For that he was most thankful.

Sliding open the back door, he quietly crept into the house. "Hope no ones up..." he said with a sigh. Last thing he wanted to do was deal with peoples questions on where he had been. Tip toeing through the living room, he sighed in relief to find it empty. Good. Kasumi didn't wait up for him. It was sweet of her to do that on occasion, but he really didn't want her to suffer on his account.

Quickly crossing the hall, he relaxed when no sign of some one waking up appeared. Last thing he needed was Akane getting up, or that lying Nabiki. He couldn't deal with it. Quickly slipping into his room, he kicked off his slippers before sliding onto his futon. He didn't have the strength to take off his clothes. Sleepy time, ah... yeah...

* * *

><p>"Boy!" a rather insistent voice muddled his dreams.<p>

"... g'way." he grumbled, turning over and covering his head with a pillow.

"Boy! Do you want to die?" said that insistant, now very much annoying voice.

"... feel better..." Ranma honestly mumbled.

Genma frowned, then growled as he kicked the boy out of his bed, "Boy! This is serious!"

Groggily rubbing sleep from his eyes, Ranma blearily looked around. Man, he was beat. What the hell was going on now? "What's this about pops? Come on, lemme sleep!"

"Boy! Your mother came by yesterday!" he hissed, sounding as if this was the most important thing to ever happen in his short life. "She's demanded you visit with her today!"

Ranma grumbled. What's the big deal? "So? I'll see her tonight..." lifting the pillow up he buried his head under it.

Genma frowned, "Boy! It's already late afternoon! You've slept the day away!"

Ranma blinked, lifting the pillow to stare in disbelief at his father "Uh... what?" Slept the whole day away? No way!

"She's already on her way, boy!" Genma scowled, ripping his pillow and blanket away, "Hurry up and get dressed!"

"Oi... fine." he grumbled, rising to his feet. Even though his body still felt like dead weight, he was already in a happy mood. Last night was the first night in as long as he could remember where he didn't wake up with a splitting headache. The day was already looking up! And now he'd get to spend time with his mother? Good day, indeed.

* * *

><p>Ranma yawned. Man, was he ever tired.<p>

Genma stared long and hard at his boy. Hair combed? Check. Clean clothes? Check. Deodorant? Check. Currently a Man? Check. Fingernails cleaned? Genma scowled, slapping the boy in the head.

"Ow!" The pigtailed martial artist grumbled, rubbing his head, "What the heck was that for idiot!"

"Boy!" Genma snapped, "This is your mother! You know she's going to inspect you ten times worse then I am! How many times do we have to go over this!" Honestly that boy was playing with fire! Didn't he realize this was a life or death matter?

"What? What the hell I do now?" Ranma stared dumbly.

Grabbing the boy's hand, Genma snarled, "Look at these! Are they clean?"

"Uh..." Ranma glanced at his fingernails, before shrugging. It was just a little dirt.

"I didn't think so! If your mother saw these dirty nails, you know what she'd do?" Genma snarled

"Uh..." The gender-cursed martial artist couldn't quite drudge of the needed concern to actually think that question through.

"I'll tell you!" Genma crowed, "She'll sit there, stare at you, and say 'I'm so disappointed.' ... AND then she'll come after me!"

"Uh..." Ranma shrugged, "Sucks to be you, huh pops?"

"Boy! I swear! Once your mothers done with me, you'll be next!" he pushed the boy away, smirking devilishly, "I can see it now. She'll take you to some prissy salon, get your hair cut into something more 'manly', have your nails polished, engage in girl talk..."

"Pfeh, you ain't scarin me with that crap old man. Mom ain't like that." Ranma snorted, stepping around his old man in route to the door. He smirked then, "Heck. If mom really doesn't think I'm manly enough, guess it's seppuku for us, eh?"

Genma blanched, turning slightly green at the thought. Maybe a training trip was in order?

* * *

><p>Ranma shook his head as he descended the stairs. Man, pop was just a little too paranoid about mom. Sure she was strict about some things, but it wasn't that bad. Yeesh! He couldn't believe the old fart still believed in that seppuku contract, it was almost like the old panda wanted to be afraid of his mother. It was like a twisted sort of game for him, but Ranma couldn't quite figure out what the prize was.<p>

Passing by the living room, he blinked in surprise at what he saw.

"Recent Mutant activities today were the cause of much alarm in Toyko. An unidentified mutant attacked the Gainax building in a seemingly random act of barbarianism. Reports are sketchy, but eye witnesses state the mutant was capable of generating beams of energy, which it used to destroy the majority of the building. Incoming reports state the mutant seemed upset about some of their work, the mutant screaming, "This is for Death and Rebirth! Oh! And this is for the mind [censored] with End of Evangelion! And damn you for making a live action movie! Live action adaptations always [censored] suck!"

Ranma whistled, "Otaku's are dangerous."

Nabiki startled, glancing back with a scowl "Damn Saotome, don't sneak up on people like that!"

The boy shrugged, mouthing an insincere "Sorry."

"This recent act of terrorism lends weight to Takahashi's mutant screening bill set to be voted on next week at the Fuji Convention. The bill proposes the introduction of mutant scanners, capable of detecting the mutant gene within the local population. The Bill also supports designs to remove these abhorrent pustules of nature from our clean civilization. Until recently the bill had been met with wide spread skepticism, only in recent weeks really gaining popularity among the general populace. With today's attack on the Gainax building, this reporter is willing to bet on the bill's approval."

Ranma winced, "Ouch. That's gotta suck."

Akane snorted, "Serves the freaks right!"

Kasumi and Nabiki both frowned at their sister, but said nothing.

"Pfeh." he snorted, "Whatever. Just doesn't seem right, hating people for just being born."

Nabiki sighed, rubbing her eyes, "Damn it."

"Something wrong, Nabiki?" Kasumi asked worriedly, hand gently resting on the greedy Tendo's shoulder

Ranma frowned, staring at the girl. "Eh... she's probably just tired or something."

The doorbell rang then, Ranma quickly waved Kasumi down, "I'll get it Kasumi." he said. Nabiki seemed rather grateful for Kasumi's presence, so he felt he did the right thing.

He walked down the hall, pausing momentarily at a nearby mirror to make sure he was the picture perfect example of the manly man he was expected to be, before opening the door. Nodoka smiled pleasantly at him, he couldn't help but smile back before calling back, "See you guys later. Mom's taking me out."

"Have fun Saotome." came Nabiki's yell.

"Always do." he quipped, shutting the door. "Hi mom!"

* * *

><p>"You're looking handsome, son." Nodoka gushed as they walked down the street, "I can see why the girls are so taken with you."<p>

"Ah, ma." Ranma colored pink, embarrassed, "You're embarassing me."

Nodoka smirked, "And so shy, how cute."

"Gurk!" God, there was no distracting this woman. "Uh... where we going?"

"Just for a walk, maybe some dinner." she said with a smile, "I want to get to know you better. It's been so long since we've been able to talk, what with Genma dear taking you on that long training trip." she frowned slightly, "Or the sudden, unexplainable trips to China. And let's not forget the challenges, races, various schemes that always seem to send you on random training trips."

"Alright." he sighed, she made it sound like the world was out to make sure she never got to see him. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well..." she shook her head, "Not here son. Let's walk a bit more." it sounded strangely enough like an order.

"Eh?" Ranma blinked. "Something wrong with here?"

Nodoka rolled her eyes, "Ranma. Where are we?"

"Nerima..." What was she getting at?

"Right, and what's in Nerima?"

"Uh... the dojo..." Ranma frowned thoughtfully.

"And?"

"... School?" Man he was starting to regret bringing this conversation up.

"Son." she began, seriously, "You're fiancées are in Nerima. Not to mention your father, and Soun. Do you understand what I'm getting at?"

Ranma nodded at first, then shook his head, "No clue."

"Dear." she sighed, exasperated, "If we stay in Nerima, chances are we will run into one of your fiancées, one of your rivals, or some other travesty waiting to happen. I think I deserve one quiet night with my son, don't you?"

"Eh..." Put it that way, he really didn't know how to respond. "Sure."

* * *

><p>Here was a quaint little restaurant, with bar like stools stationed next to a mini kitchen. The atmosphere was energetic, quiet, and most definitely friendly. Steam rising from the stove gave the room a faint misty quality, almost soothing in its appearance. People, families and the odd couple on a date populated the place, with soft music playing relaxing tunes just a little too low in volume to enjoy. All in all, a nice enough place he figured.<p>

"Decent place." Ranma said, finishing his inspection

"Yes it is." his mother said with a smile, dragging him up to the stools, "It's run by a Mr. Hiashi and his family. He's an old friend."

"I bet." he grunted, sliding up on the stools, "Kinda reminds me of Ukyo's."

"Maybe a little." she allowed, taking her own seat. "Kounji certainly does keep busy, doesn't she?"

"Eh?" Ranma shrugged, "I guess. What with school an all."

"What can I get for... Nodoka?" The chef, a bald man dressed in a dingy yellow dogi addressed them. His clothes might have been white, long ago, but repeated use and age had left it's mark.

"Hiashi-san!" she greeted with a smile, "It's good to see you. How's precious Yumiko?"

"Eh..." he shrugged, smiling, "She got married few months back. Some down town lawyer." he sounded oddly disappointed in that.

"Ah..." she nodded, knowingly, "Didn't marry a chef, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, that's life I guess." he blinked, noticing Ranma for the first time, "'ello. Who's this Nodoka?" he grinned mischievously, "I didn't think you'd be into em so young."

Ranma gagged.

"He's my son, Hiashi." she rolled her eyes, "Ranma, meet my friend Yorchiru Hiashi, he's a pervert, Hiashi, meet my manly son, Ranma."

"Yo." Ranma was amazed he even managed to get that out.

"Heh. Sorry Nodoka." Hiashi smiled sheepishly, "Jus a bit of teasin, didn't mean any harm."

She waved him off, "Don't worry about it." glancing to her son, she hmmed, "Ranma?"

Tensing, Ranma blinked, "Yeah?"

Nodoka frowned, "Dear? Is something wrong?"

"Eh... no no. I'm just tired... s'all." The pigtailed boy lied, casting nervous glances towards the door. Why was he getting the feeling the fiancee's, or one of his rivals were around? Damn it, couldn't they just leave him alone for one night!

"Hmm." apparently accepting his exucse at face value, she asked, "Would you like to order for us?"

"Eh..." he chuckled nervously, "Sure, I guess." Hope she likes Tempura

* * *

><p>Nodoka blinked, laughing lightly, "She used duck tape?"<p>

"Yeah." he sighed, a bit embarassed by this particular story. "Can't blame her either. It was kinda tense, the whole play and all."

"But, duck tape?" she repeated incredously.

"Heh..." Ranma shook his head, "That was a long time ago.. man." Just where did the time fly? Heck, it felt like only yesterday when he and the panda showed up on Tendo's doorstep, soaked to the bone. Had it really been so long?

"Ranma dear." Nodoka leaned over, gently placing her hand on his. Startled, Ranma stiffened, eyes darting all over the room as if something, or some one was there, ready to attack. Gosh, her son was a bundle of nerves. "Dear? Are you sure nothings wrong?" He's been so jumpy all night.

Frowning, he quickly shook off the feeling he got. "Nah... s'nothin."

"You two doing okay?" Hiashi broke in, idly cleaning a glass cup as he spoke, "How was dinner?"

Pulling her hand back, she smiled in return, "Exceptional as usual Hiashi. You really are a wonderful cook."

"And you, son?" the older man eyed him expectantly.

Ranma blinked, nervously shrugging, "Uh, yeah... it was, uh... nice." he finished lamely, cursing himself for acting the fool

Nodoka sighed, givining Hiashi an apologetic look, "Ranma dear, let's go for a walk?" There was something really bothering her son. He's been nothing but nervous since they left Nerima, acting as if he was afraid of something. He was tense, and it was beginning to aggravate her nerves.

"Sure." Ranma sighed in relief.

* * *

><p>"Dear, is something wrong?" Nodoka stared at her son pointedly<p>

Ranma spared the lonely park a glance. Only he and his mother, no other soul in sight, which was weird for this time of day. The place should be loaded with families and kids, but it wasn't. Still, while weird, this didn't set him on edge. What did set him on edge was that he could literally feel one of the fiancées around. It figures, it really did. Never a moment of rest for him. "Hey mom, I think your plan washed out." he said as the two sat down on a bench.

"Oh?" she blinked, looking at her son strangely, "What makes you think that?" Is that why he was acting so tense?

"I can feel em." he grumbled, "Some one's followed us."

Nodoka frowned, sparing the lonely park a long look. She couldn't see anyone. "Maybe it's just your imagination? I'm pretty sure Ms. Kounji and the Chinese girl were busy tonight." at least, she was reasonably sure. Passing by their restaurants on the way to the dojo showed both as being extremely busy.

"Eh..." he frowned. That was weird. He knew whoever was following them wasn't any of the Tendo girls. Soun hadn't left his room all day, something about a terrible demon assaulting him. Weird. Maybe pop? Nah... he was so scared of mom, he was probably running for the hills. Ryoga maybe? Or Mousse? "I'm telling you, some one's following us."

Nodoka sighed, "Dear. I promise, it's just your imagination. Now forget about that, I want to talk."

Ranma frowned. Last thing he needed was some one overhearing what he shared with his mother. He rarely ever got a chance to see her as it was, couldn't they just leave him alone for one freaking night? Closing his eyes, he buried his emotions within the soul of ice, focusing his mind to the task at hand.

"Ranma?" she gently shook his shoulder, concerned.

There. Opening his eyes, a brief almost nonexistent sparkle shined within his orbs for just a moment. "Yeah, mom. Gimme a sec." he eyed the area thoroughly. For a brief moment pain flared in his head, but faded away quickly.

Nothing.

Damn. Maybe this technique is messed up? It always worked before. Turning to his mother, "Guess I was wr... WHAT THE HELL!" his eyes widened in shock, instinctually breaking his mothers hold on his arm as he jumped away.

Startled, Nodoka didn't react at first. Shakily she recomposed herself, "Dear? What's wrong?" she looked around, trying desperately to find what could cause her son to react so.

Stumbling back, he rubbed his eyes once, twice, and thrice, each time taking a long look at his mother.

And each time he saw the same thing. A woman with blue skin, red hair, and yellow eyes surrounded by a hazy blue form of his mother, Nodoka. "... Who the heck are you? Where's my mom!"

Startled, the woman cried, "Ranma! What's gotten into you?"

The boy wouldn't have anything of it. Stomping over to the woman, he grabbed her wrists and glared dangerously, "I'm giving you three seconds, exactly three damn seconds to tell me the truth or..." he leaned in close, eyes glinting dangerously, "I'll rip your arms out." His mother was in danger, no one would stand in his way.

Nodoka winced, the strain on her arms were intense. Her son certainly was manly, "Dear! It's me! Ow!" she winced, "You're hurting me!"

Ranma scowled, "Liar. I can see through that damn disguise. My mom isn't nothin like you! Who. Are. You?"

"Disguise?" she blinked, wincing as the presser on her wrists increased, "Please! Ranma.. I don't know what your talking about! It's me, Nodoka!"

"One." he counted.

"Ranma please! I'm telling you the truth! Why won't you believe me?" the thing masquerading as his mother cried painfully.

"Pfeh." he snorted, "My mom isn't some blue skinned, red hair, yellow eyed thing! Two."

Nodoka blinked, shocked. He... he could see her true form? That shouldn't be... wait.. He's a mutant! Like her! He has to be! How else could he see her? But... why couldn't he see her before now of all times? Surely he must have... unless... he just mutated? "Ranma! Let me explain! I am your mother! I'm a mutant!"

Ranma stared into those yellow orbs, stared into them long and hard. If there was one thing he learned in his life, was that the eyes of a person could never lie. What scared him though, was the fact he couldn't see such a lie in her eyes. This.. mutant..

"Mom?" he whispered, releasing the pressure on her arms as he stared in dumb shock.

* * *

><p>To be Continued (Maybe)<p>

AN: Most of you will more then likely be confused with the last few segments, specifically, what Ranma used to actually see through Nodoka/Mystiques disguise. The explanation will be given at the beginning of the next chapter.

In case you are wondering, yes, you probably have seen something like this similar on the addventure. The *basic* premise is taken from there, that being Ranma as Mystiques kid. No, no Magento coming to threaten the woman, ect. ect. Thats all I have to say.

Update: 7/19/2011

And thus begins the partial rewrite/revision of The Ultimate Antidote. I'd like the thank inverted_helix at the TFF forum for convincing me to get my ass in gear. Now, the original version off this is pretty raw, filled with glaring mispellings, grammar errors, and several other things I don't even want to think about. This rewrite is to fix those, make the timeline more cohesive, and to help stabalize future chapters by editing out needless chaff that made continuation a pain in the ass.

Anyway, here's the first chapter. If you'd like to see the original chapter, do a google search for The Ultimate Antidote Matdeception, it'll link you to the story on mediaminer.

Toodles.


	2. Chapter 2

The Ultimate Antidote

Written by: Matdeception

Ranma 1/2 Notes: Takes place after Saffron and the failed wedding.

X-Men Evolution: Time line all fucked up, and I don't care.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights of Ranma 1/2, nor X-men evolution. I write this piece of fan fiction to pay homage to the original creators, and nothing more. Nor would I ever seek to monetary gain through said intellectual property.

Credit where credit is due: The original idea for Ranma's mutant ability was created by Thrylind on the Anime Addventure. I have been granted his permission to use his idea in the making of this fic. I've since modified it, but the base ability is still Thrylind's. So there.

* * *

><p>Chapter Two: The Truth of Lies.<p>

* * *

><p>Nodoka winced, rubbing her sore wrists as her son stared stupidly at her. He really didn't know his own strength. "Why didn't you tell me you knew the truth?" She wasn't stupid. They had seen each other quite a bit this last month, more then enough time for him to ask questions. The way he just reacted screamed his ignorance, but that didn't make much sense. Unless... he just mutated, which she doubted.<p>

"What the heck?" Ranma blinked, then scowled, "Who gives a crap about that?" No, he was just a little too freaked out to be calm, "Why didn't you tell pop or me about this?"

"What would I say?" she sighed, "You know, deep down, your fathers completely devoted to his ideals on racial purity. What would he say? What would he do if he knew his wife was a mutant, through birth his only child had been polluted with mutant blood?" She knew Genma wasn't anti-mutant, he was the typical Japanese man, obsessed, even if only remotely, with the honor of his family and of his clan. He wouldn't like the fact she was not Japanese herself.

Rubbing his forehead, he winced, both in pain at his returning headache, and at the stinging truth of her words. "But, y'know, he loves you. Sure he might be upset an all, but he'd see through that crap in the end."

"Maybe." she allowed. There wasn't much hope in that, but you never could tell with Genma. That chaotic nature of his was what drew her to him in the first place. He certainly wasn't like any man she had met before. "And you didn't answer my question."

Slumping on the bench, he coughed, "Why would I?"

"Son." Nodoka began with a frown, "You just saw through my disguise. Like that. No hints, no mess ups on my part. How on earth did you do it? Are you a mutant?"

Ranma blinked, "Eh?" quickly shaking his head in response, "No, not a mutant. I just got a technique that lets me see through that kinda thing, kay?" He really hoped she accepted that answer, his headache was getting worse and he really didn't want to have to deal with actually answering it in full.

"Technique?" she breathed nervously. Her son had a technique that could pierce her disguise, when most countries on the planet with their technology had no chance in hell of breaking her deceit. She would have to be a total fool to not recognize the danger in such a thing. "What technique? Who taught you?" she winced when her questions came out in an almost desperate torrent. The thought of just anyone being able to break her only means of mingling in society had her on edge.

Ranma sighed, "Eh, it's called 'The Inner Light', and no one taught me it."

"You came up with it?" she almost breathed in relief. That was better then just anyone with the means to purchase the knowledge discovering her.

"Nope." he grumbled, "I just got tired of all the lies, y'know? Nabiki's sneakin, Mousse, Shampoo, heck even Ryoga trying to sneak up on me all the time. So.. I kinda stole it."

"Stole it?"

"Yah, from the letch. He probably didn't even realize he had it." It always amazed him how much stuff the old bastard had stowed away, heck, half the techniques he peaked at would have probably made the letch ten times more dangerous then he already was. "The technique kind of didn't work real well at first. After learning the first level of it, Way of Light, which is kind of like a radar, I realized how pointless it was to use it. Found out Jusenkyo curses also counted, and it'd never tell me just where the deceit or lie was comin from." he finished with a cough. Man, what the hell was with this headache?

"Ah..." she nodded thoughtfully, "And since we never actually met with out dear Genma, or another of the Jusenkyo cursed individuals at least nearby, you never had any reason to suspect."

"Yeah." he admitted, "The second level, Lights Truth, lets me see through Illusions and crap. Things like Jusenkyo curses and stuff, but it tires me out real fast, so I can't do it all the time."

"I see."

"Eh..." he grimaced. Okay, this wasn't funny anymore. These god damn headaches just needed to leave him the hell alone. Better get out of here, he needed to think anyway, "I... think it's time to go, y'know, I need to think and stuff."

"Promise me Ranma." Nodoka began, deadly serious, "You won't tell anyone my secret? Not your father, not Tendo, no one?"

"Ah..." Damn, and he really wanted ta talk to some one about this whole thing. See what they think and all that. He sighed, "Yeah, sure."

"Thank you, dear." she let out a relieved breath. Last thing she needed was some one finding out. "Let's go home."

Ranma took to his feet, stumbling as his headache suddenly pulsed. Argh! Taking two steps, he stumbled again, the pain bringing him to a knee, "Damn! Damn damn damn!"

"Ranma? What's wrong?" she kneeled down beside him, concern plain in her eyes.

"Headache... its no problem, just... ah..." he shuddered. When black spots began to flicker at the edge of his vision, he really wished he could take that last sentence back. "No... it's bad... I can't move." With out warning he collapsed, unconscious.

"Ranma!" she reached out to grab him, only to yelp in pain as dark lightning arched from his prone body and struck her. "What the hell?" she cried, cradling her injured hand. She could only watch in mute horror as more and more of the strange lightning appeared and coursed over her son's form.

* * *

><p>He came awake with a start, only to whimper at the ungodly pain echoing off every part of his body. His head hurt, his nose hurt, hell, even his hair hurt. What the hell was going on?<p>

"It's as you suspected, Professor Hiami." a unknown sneezy voice spoke, alerting him to the fact he wasn't alone.

"I see." a sigh, from an equally unrecognized voice, "Have you ascertained the effects of his mutant gene?"

Mutant? What the hell? He wasn't a mutant. Trying to move his arms, he quickly discovered something he didn't like one bit. He was held bound on a cold steel table, with similar bars stretched over his body at his ankles, knees, thighs, waist, chest, wrists, elbows, and forehead. Damn, no leverage.

"Yes we have." Ranma risked peeking, opening one eye ever so slightly to peer around as much as the room as he could. Some type of medical laboratory, with varying machines that did who knows what. Two men, one slim and bald except for rather bushy hair starting at the base of his skull, working it's way around his head till his ears, dressed in a lab coat. The other was older by far, with more wrinkles then silly putty, grey hair and a beard, dressed in a brown suit. Great, geeks managed to catch him. Wait.. what about mom? She was there, what happened to her?

"It's most fascinating, from a medical stand point." Slims explained, unable to hide his excited tone, "While possessing no immediate military use, my assistants and I whole heartedly agree the subject could be used to help rid the world of many different types of illnesses."

"To the point, Doctor Munro." Hiami snapped.

"Ah, yes." Munro coughed, "His mutation is the generation of unique cells within his blood stream. These cells seem capable of destroying any and all kinds of infectious diseases, viral agents, and who knows what else." The doctor smirked slightly, pushing his glasses up slightly, "He is quite frankly an Ultimate Antidote."

"A what?" Hiami frowned.

"Ultimate Antidote, sir." he spoke excitedly, reaching the desk and turning his monitor to his associate, "Thanks to Professor Essex's research, we've been able to create various experiments that model, if not out right copy, known mutant powers." he pointed to a display, "Using these devices, we discovered for the most part he has little to no actual resistances to said abilities. It wasn't until we began testing with the Midas protocols that we noticed a reaction."

"Midas protocols?" Hiami blinked, "Explain."

"Ah, yes." he nodded quickly, "Essex reports that there exists mutants capable of attacks simply by touch. Such effects as energy transfer, life drain, and blight touch. The point however, is that when exposed to these abilities we received a reaction within his cellular makeup."

"And?"

"Yes, well with Blight Touch, a mutant is capable of literally causing extreme decay in whatever it makes contact with. When exposed to this, we discovered he was resistant, if not out right immune to the effects. To be sure, we repeated the experiments with Life drain and transfer, respectfully, and in all cases the results were similar to the first."

"I see." Hiami nodded slowly.

Well I sure as hell don't! Ranma really wished he had some leverage here, he needed to get away and find his mother.

"There's more to this, isn't there." Hiami finally spoke, gazing at Munro quizzically.

"Oh yes, indeed there is." he nodded eagerly, quickly tapping on his key board and bringing up another screen. "Standard procedure when examining any mutant is a thorough blood test. What we discovered with the patient was an abnormally high white blood cell count, not to mention certain types of blood cells we hadn't even seen before." he pointed to strange bluish black hued cells on the screen, making his point, "On a hunch, we exposed the blood cells to a strain of a rather deadly flesh eating virus. Can you even begin to guess what happened next?"

"Eh... no." Hiami shrugged.

"It's unprecedented! For the first three hours the virus followed it's usual path, attacking blood cells before moving on to the DNA chain itself. However, that's when these mysterious blood cells started working. Within eight hours all traces of the virus had been purged from the sample, and even before our eyes we could see the cells destroyed by the virus regenerating." he grinned then, "And even more amazing, we later introduced the same strain to a different isolated sample and the mutant cells immediately destroyed it, no delay at all this time. It's like what one cell learns is transferred to others, regardless of medium!"

Hiami blinked, "Are you suggesting these cells can communicate with each other, regardless of whether or not they are even in the same body?"

"It certainly appears that way." Munroe nodded, "If I can get your authorization, I can introduce the same virus to the host, who we have kept separate from the experiments, and see if the cells in his blood stream also destroy it out right."

"No." Hiami declared without preamble. "Ignoring the possibility his cells are an adaptive hive structure, you're saying his mutation is otherwise capable of extreme regeneration, potential immunity to most diseases, and makes all mutants with the Midas classification no threat?"

"Ah..." Munro frowned a bit, "For the most part, true. However, the regeneration factor is a bit off, and this is all circumstantial evidence."

"Oh?" The Old Wrinkly scientist raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"According to Essex's report, a mutant in America by the call sign of Wolverine has what we would term as 'extreme' regeneration levels. Comparing our findings to his reports, I would surmise that while he does have enhanced regeneration, it isn't anywhere near the levels described by Essex." Munro explained simply.

"I see..." Hiami frowned, removing his glasses he pinched the bridge of his nose, tiredly, "Anything else?"

"Well there is the matter of his physical.." Munro began.

"No there isn't." Hiami waved the man off.

"But sir!" he protested.

"Munro, the patients physical abilities are well known to me. He has been under observation long before you joined the team." he just didn't want to have to listen to it again, "Your final assessment, I deduce, Military Use: None, Medical Use, specifically research, invaluable. Correct?"

"Ah..." he blinked, then sighed in resignation, "Correct."

"Good." Hiami grunted, "Prepare the patient for transport."

"We're letting him go?"

"Until the Mutant Screening bill is passed, we have no reason to hold him." Hiami shrugged, "We'll inject him with RDU90 and let him fill in the blanks himself. I assure you, once the bill is passed we'll pick this one up post haste for your research."

"I... understand." Munro sighed, picking up the phone.

Hiami's gaze wandered from Munro towards the patient, lingering for a moment until he stepped away from his colleagues desk and up to the table Ranma was strapped too. He stared for a little, casting a glance back towards Munro and finding him busily chatting away on the phone, before whispering, "Sit tight, dear. We'll be free soon."

Ranma's eyes flashed open, staring blankly at the man, "Wha..."

"Shhhh." he hissed, pressing his hand over the boy's mouth, "Quiet." he took in a deep breath, "You collapsed on me, Ranma. I didn't know what to do, I couldn't even move you."

"Eh.." Ranma blinked in utter confusion.

"Shhh. Just lay low, when you are let go, head for my house." Hiami whispered quickly, before turning around and stepping away, just in time too as Munro set the phone down.

"We'll be ready to transport him in an hour, sir."

"Good." Hiami grunted, "Drop him off right where we found him, I'll handle the reports for General Musashi."

Munro nodded, "Yes sir."

* * *

><p>There were many thoughts raging through his mind as he turned in his report. The fact his son had collapsed had worried him, and he wished he hadn't needed to bring the boy here of all places. He didn't have a choice, though. Shortly after Ranma collapsed, a patrol unit had spotted them. It was either bring him here, a place he had considerable leeway, or a normal hospital, and run the risk of the Police discovering the truth. At least here the fact he was a mutant wouldn't cause any problems, so long as that blasted bill never passed. If it did, things were going to get complicated, and he knew it. Still, that was over three days ago, which no doubt left tensions running high in Nerima, but the Tendo's and fiancée's would be far easier to deal with.<p>

Musashi picked up the report, and frowned, "Negative was he?"

"Yes sir." Hiami said with a smile, "Seems we jumped the gun on this one. The boy tested negative on all tests for the mutant gene. I've gone ahead and injected the boy with RDU90 before releasing him to the general public. As procedure dictates, all records that the man was ever in our care will be erased."

"Pity." he waved the man off, "Keep me informed."

"Yes sir." Hiami nodded.

The soft ring brought him out of his thoughts, Hiami reached into his coat and pulled out his cell phone, "Doctor Hiami speaking."

"Patient has been released, no problems to report in drop off." a cold, militant voice answered.

Thank god. Hiami reached out, hitting the 'Stop' button on the elevator, before continuing.

"Understood. Return to base, and destroy all files related to the mutant."

"Yes sir."

"That includes Munro." Hiami stressed seriously.

"Understood." The soft click of a cut line resounded in his ear.

He may have screwed over his first son and daughter, but he swore nothing would hurt his only family that didn't hate his guts, yet anyway, and hopefully he never will.

He stared blankly at the empty, barren pantry. No food. Not willing to admit defeat yet, the boy moved towards the refrigerator. Pulling it open, empty here too he noticed with a bitter sigh. Gee, did his mom keep any food in this place?

"This just sucks." he grunted, moving from the kitchen to the living room, where he slumped onto the couch. His mind was reeling with everything he had learned, and he realized his vain attempt to eat was just his way of ignoring the problem. His mother was a mutant, capable of assuming different shapes, heck, capable of assuming a whole new gender. And here he thought he was the only one in the family with that particular trick.

Questions, questions, always questions. Where was that place? Who were those guys? How did his mother know about them, heck, how did she even get in there? They even said he was a mutant, but... was he really? He didn't think so. Nothing felt new to him, and didn't mutants usually get some kinda nifty powers? Like lazer beams or x-ray vision?

He looked at the clock. Two hours already, where was she?

Argh! For the love of hell. Everything was going out of control. Pop and Tendo were probably worried sick by now. Who knows what the fiancée's were doing, prolly lookin for him, how the heck was he gonna explain this mess to em? Everything was just happening to fast. He needed time to think, to figure this crap out.

Let's think about this. His mom was a mutant. His dad wasn't, doubt he'd even want anything to do with her once he found out. If he found out, anyway. Mom didn't seen too keen on tellin him anytime soon. Akane was probably worried spitless by now, heck Kasumi too even. 'side from that, he had been kidnapped and experimented on by some whackadoo claiming all types of crap he didn't understand. Even weirder, his mom seemed to be apart of the group. Just what the hell her connections were with that group worried him.

The sound of the door slamming alerted him to anothers presence.

Good. Time to get some answers. He grunted, rising from the couch.

Hiami, the old wrinkly doctor from the lab walked in, instantly sighing in relief the moment he caught sight of Ranma. Despite knowing better, the man still held a tiny bit of fear that his son had gotten caught again while he covered up his existence from the Agency. "Fun day, huh?"

He frowned, "Mom?" he suspected the man was, but was simply too tired to call forth Lights Truth.

Like a sickening version of dominos, from head to toe the man began to morph into his mother. Grey hair replaced with dingy red, wrinkles vanishing to be replaced by smoother skin, clothes morphing as well into the traditional Kimono the woman always wore. "Yes?"

Ranma blinked, then shook off his surprise. Seeing her actually becoming the woman he thought he knew was weird, but his mind was still too numb to think much of it. He had questions, and he wanted answers, damn it! "What the heck happened? Who was that guy? What was that place? What the hell is going on?"

Nodoka sighed, grabbing her sons hands and leading him back to the couch, where she sat down as well. "Dear, it's complicated."

"Uncomplicate it then." Ranma snapped.

She sighed. This was going to be a long night, and then they still had to deal with the Tendo's. "When you passed out, I tried to move you. Something happened when I reached out to touch you. Some weird energy had erupted from your body, and each time I tried to move you I'd get zapped worse then the previous one."

Ranma blinked. That was weird.

"The light show drew some attention, and I was forced to bring you to Agency Nero." his mother continued

"Agency Nero?" What the hell was that?

Nodoka sighed, rubbing her forehead tiredly, "I'm not surprised you haven't heard of it. No one really knows about it. It's a Agency trained exclusively in the capture and containment of rogue mutants. Their funded by the government, and if that bill concerning mutant screening is passed, they will be the ones to lead the first wave of the governments efforts to enforce law upon mutants like myself, and..." she stared at him, wincing at the stupefied confusion and shock in his eyes. He was just a minnow caught in a tuna net, unaware of the big picture, or the fact he was even caught by it. "... you."

So he was a mutant. Hearing his own mother confirm it left little doubt in his imagination. Rather then think about that earth shattering fact, he ignored it and pressed on, "How the hell did you even get caught up with those idiots?" The fact she, a mutant, was even consorting with the likes of Agency Nero was weird. What did she hope to accomplish with it? And that raised another question... "Were you serious? About people looking at me and stuff?"

Nodoka blinked. Oh yeah, she had mentioned that. "Well... yes." she sighed, "Agency Nero is always seeking to recruit new members, especially those with above human abilities. Not mutants exclusively, even Ryoga-kun's been sighted for observation."

Ranma grunted. Great, Ryoga hadn't even done anything and already he was in this mess. "And? Why the hell are you in Nero?"

"I joined to keep tabs, mainly." Nodoka shrugged, "Through my efforts, I've been able to delay the bill nearly six months so far. I had hope for at least another year, but that stupid Otaku ruined it all for me!" she growled, "Damn Gainax! Stupid Shinji, if he just followed orders everything would have been perfect!"

"Eh... heh." Ranma sweated. His mother was an Anime fan? Weird. "Yeah..."

Nodoka blinked, then chuckled nervously, "Forget I said that."

"Will do, Ritsuko." he rolled his eyes.

* * *

><p>Nodoka sighed. This was going to be harder then she thought. Looking over the Tendo Dojo, she allowed her gaze to wander.<p>

Ranma was as nervous as a killer bee, his looks jumping from one extreme to another. For a second he was serious, calm, and in control, only to change to nervous, fearful, and frantic in the blink of an eye. Poor boy was really scared, not that she could blame him either. It's not everyday you find out you're a mutant, or that you've been watched by an Agency for months on end that would likely want nothing more to do with you then a noose does with a hangman who had no one else left to hang once his secret was revealed.

"Ranma, dear. Calm down." she breathed, agitated by his constant worrying, "Just remember the story, and we'll be fine."

Ranma winced, smiling weakly. He really didn't mean to be so jumpy, but this was the Tendo's. Akane was probably so worried by now she'd freaking kill him the moment she saw him. Some call it tough love, he just called it psychosis. Still, if he could calm her down before the big meltdown, he might just have a chance to live through this. All that, and it's only Akane. Genma and Mr. Tendo would be pissed off, Kasumi, bless her heart, would be worried, but even he wasn't stupid enough to realize she wouldn't be just a tad bit upset for not calling. That left Nabiki as the wildcard. Who knew what she would do.

"Right. I'll... t-t-ry." he nervously stuttered towards the end.

"Please, just remember not to say anything about Nero, or the fact were.." she glanced around nervously. Last thing they needed was this becoming public knowledge. Ranma was already so round up over the thing he could very well crack any second. "... gifted."

"No problem there." he grunted.

Nodoka nodded, before knocking on the door.

In short order the door creaked open, a pair of brown expressive orbs tinted red with worry and tiredness peered out. It was Kasumi.

Ranma coughed, "Er, hi... URK!"

Kasumi lunged with out giving him any time to finish, pulling the boy into a hug worthy of Ryoga in sheer strength. Ranma weakly tried to pry himself out, but the homemaker wouldn't have any of it. "Ranma! Oh thank the Gods, you're okay!" she punctuated each word by hugging tighter. "We were so worried!"

"Kasumi... dear..." Nodoka sweat dropped, "If you don't stop squeezing him, there will really be a reason to worry." Honestly, her son was starting to turn blue!

"Oh my!" she meeped, dropping the boy to the floor, where he weakly struggled for the door.

"Oh god... ribs... broken... can't... ugh." he fainted.

Nodoka sighed in sympathy. If Kasumi could bring herself to nearly suffocate her child, maybe it's for the best he was unconscious, lest they kill him with their affection. "Dear..."

"Oh dear." Kasumi winced.

"... love is a wonderful thing... too much though."

Ranma twitched, but remained unconscious.

"Auntie!" Kasumi blushed, stunned shock evident.

"Now now, let's get the boy inside. Lying face first in the ground can't be a good thing." Nodoka smirked.

* * *

><p>There was a palpable since of worry, even anger present when she entered the room. The look on Akane, Nabiki, even the fathers set her on edge. They looked like some one just died. All were huddled next to the TV, where some news cast was playing.<p>

"Oh dear, you look absolutely dreadful." she commented, drawing their attentions.

Akane winced, her tone just laced with no small dose of fear sorrow, "Auntie... they... they..." she hiccuped, finding it harder and harder to get the words out. What would she say? What would she do?

Nodoka blinked, gently patting Akane's head, "Dear? What's wrong?" she was surprised when Akane literally grabbed her hand, holding it to her head as she wept.

Soun coughed, "Maybe we should leave..." he looked to Nabiki, who only nodded solemnly before literally dragging herself from the room, looking as sad and pathetic as anyone one person could.

Nodoka blinked, watching them go, "What's going on?" she looked to Genma, noticed for the first time the stone cold mask he had summoned into place. Little emotion was playing off his normally expressive cheeks. Not even a drop of mischievous intentions, or sneaky plans. He almost looked... serious. "Dear?"

"Nodoka." Genma began, a sure sign something was really really wrong. He hadn't called her Nodoka since they met, always No-chan, or cuddle bunny, or sexy woman, or.. well that wasn't the here nor there. "They found a body in the harbor last..." he sniffed, eyes cracking as a tear managed to snake it's way free, "Last night... it's Ranma."

Nodoka blinked once. Twice. Thrice. What the hell? "Uh... no it isn't?"

Genma sighed, rising up and enveloping the obvious distraught and unbelieving woman in a tight hug. He knew the truth, he had talked with the police himself, the body had been badly burned, but they had managed to recover trace elements of DNA on the corpse. Just enough for a positive ID. "Dear, I know this is hard.. he's dead.."

Akane wailed against her leg. This was wrong! All wrong! The jerk wasn't suppose to disappear like that! He wasn't suppose to die!

Nodoka looked between Akane, and Genma. She couldn't deny it; both obviously believed her son was dead. "I think there's been a mistake."

"Let it out Nodoka, let it out." Genma cried, hugging her all the tighter. What a courageous woman! To not weep when their only child was dead! Oh, he was so proud of her, doing what he could not, to be a rock against the endless tides of despair!

"No, seriously, there's been a mistake!" she tried to stress her point, but Genma just assumed she was delirious.

"Oh for the love of god, get a room you two!" Ranma hissed. Behind him, Soun was unconscious, and Nabiki had collapsed, looking delirious. At least Kasumi's reaction made more sense. Geesh! They thought he was dead!

Akane froze, pulling back from Nodoka to stare at the boy.

Genma's eyes snapped open, blinking in tandem with Akane's as he looked at the boy.

Nodoka chuckled lightly, "Told you it was just a mist... " only to have her sentence cut off as Akane leapt across the room screaming bloody murder, "Akane dear! VIOLENCE ISN'T THE ANSWER!"

Ranma blanched, "Oh holy hell." and took off. Hurricane Akane trailing not far behind, encased in an aura of angry red just promising Ramnacide.

Nodoka meeped, suddenly finding herself shoved to the side and Genma leapt after the teenagers, "BOY! COME BACK HERE AND DIE LIKE A MAN!"

"Eat spit, pops! WHOA! Put the scooter down Akane!"

"YOU HAD ME CRYING! DIE RANMA!"

Nodoka blink blinked. This... was crazy.

* * *

><p>"A man found last night in Tokyo Harbor has been identified. Twice. Earlier findings had discovered the man to be that of a missing youth from the Nerima Prefecture, one Saotome Ranma. Later investigation revealed this to be a rare mistake on part of the Tokyo forensics department, who discovered the true identity of the man to be one Alexander Munro, a visiting genetic researcher working for Tokyo General.<p>

Spokesmen for the hospital report that Mr. Munro was working late last night, and that he had been drinking, when he suddenly clocked out and left the premises. An ambulance was later discovered missing, security camera's catching Munro in the act. The police believe the reason Mr. Munro was confused for Mr. Saotome was due to the fact that same ambulance had been used earlier that night to transport Mr. Saotome, who had suffered a massive stress attack and fainted. Blood samples could have come loose during Mr. Munro's drunken ride through Tokyo, which would explain the mistake made earlier by Police forensics. Police have ruled the death a suicide, brought on by ignorance of Japanese motor laws compiled with his own drunken state that caused him to crash into the Harbor. His burns were likely caused by electric failure of the equipment carried by the ambulance, possibly when it was knocked around in the ride.

Now we go to Tokyo harbor, where Ching Sanada is covering the recovery of the ambulance from the bottom. Ching, how are things?"

"So that's what happened!" Soun snapped his fingers, "Of course, I knew the boy was alive. It seemed odd to me he'd die like that."

Nodoka smiled lightly, "I see."

Nabiki spared the older woman a strange look, before shrugging slowly, "So... just where was Ranma, all this time?" She didn't believe the stress attack story. True, it held some merit, the guy certainly had to deal with his fair share of weirdness, but he didn't seem any different now then he was three days ago. Something just didn't feel right, especially with the way Nodoka was acting. She wasn't doing anything out of the norm, but she couldn't help but feel something was being hidden.

Nodoka shrugged, "He had been complaining about headaches earlier that night. Aside from that everything seemed fine, until we decided to go home. That's when he passed out." she shuddered, "It was such a shock, I was afraid my little boy had been hurt!"

A crash from upstairs sounded, which brought a smirk to Nabiki's lips, "Might of been better if he hadn't just shown up. Akane and Genma are really going at him."

"Ah, they're just playing." Nodoka giggled, "I'm sure they wouldn't do anything to hurt my precious boy."

A scream from upstairs.. "OH MY GOD! NOT THE FACE NOT THE.. NOT THE BALLS NOT THE BALLS!" followed by a loud smack, and some pathetic whimpering clued Nabiki in to the truth. The fact Nodoka seemed oblivious to it was noted.

"You're probably right." That still left too many unanswered questions and holes in the story. If Ranma had collapsed that first night, why would an Ambulance still have blood samples? Didn't they dispose of such bio-hazards after delivering the patients? Not to mention the fact the news report stated he had been brought in last night, when Nodoka's story pointed towards three nights ago. And the feeling she got... no, there was something deeper here. She just knew it.

"BOY! HOW DARE YOU MAKE YOUR FATHER SUFFER SO!" Genma cried from upstairs, the sound of two bodies rolling across the floor making itself known.

"Oh god! NOT THE CRADLE OF HELL!"

"OH MY SON, HOW I LOVE YOU! HOW I WORRIED! FORGIVE YOUR FATHER, I WAS SO SAD I ALMOST CRIED! WAH!"

* * *

><p>To Be Continued (Maybe)<p>

Authors Notes: There's a 'The Fugitive', starring Harrison Ford, segment in the story. Or at least something dealing with the main storyline of that particular movie. See if you can find it!

Note on Ranma's Mutation: Below is a listing of Ranma's mutation. Please note the information isn't complete, as I'll only list what has been revealed through the story thus far.

* beside any of the following means there is further information on the subject, which will be located below the following.

Name: The Ultimate Antidote

Type: Passive

Effects: Increased regeneration*, Immunity to all Diseases*, Immunity to Transfer, Drain, and similar attacks

Note on Regeneration: His base regeneration factor is similar to Logan's, but only barely. Wounds that take Wolverine seconds to heal takes Ranma an hour to the whole day to recover. Wounds that incapacitate Logan for upwards of a day would take a week, to two weeks for Ranma to recover enough to even move. Basically, his healing factor has raised a bit, but it isn't anywhere near as powerful as Logan's, or as useful, since Hour long fights rarely rarely ever happen.

Note on Disease Immunity: He can contract diseases, viruses, and the like. However, they can only get so far in their progress before his mutant ability kicks in and begins to annihilate the infection. This increases the rate at which he will recover from said disease. Instead of three days to a week with a flu, Ranma would be up and around by the end of the first day. Cancer and other life threatening diseases are likewise effected by his mutant gene, but you can expect weeks to months to pass before he is cured of the infection. In regards to cancer, he likely would never even notice he got it, as the damage would be healed far too fast to actually detect by normal medical means.

7/21/11 Update: Whew, another chapter revised. Like, 24/25 more go to. Wasn't much to change in this chapter except for glaring mispellings, ill-chosen words, and to throttle back on some of the cursing.

As for the plot, I didn't really have to do all that much fixing in order to keep it inline for later chapters. Anyway, enjoy.


	3. Chapter 3

The Ultimate Antidote

Written by: Matdeception

Ranma 1/2 Notes: Takes place after Saffron and the failed wedding.

X-Men Evolution: Time line all fucked up, but I do care.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights of Ranma 1/2, nor X-men evolution. I write this piece of fan fiction to pay homage to the original creators, and nothing more. Nor would I ever seek to monetary gain through said intellectual property.

Credits: Inverted_helix of TFF for going through this travesty and offering suggestions.

Quick Note: Bare in mind this beast was written in 2004, so don't be surprised if I used a lot of old writing from my style at the time.

* * *

><p>Chapter 3:<p>

* * *

><p>A mirror often lets us see things in our selves that we would normally not see. Even a week after the night he returned, he couldn't find anything different about himself. His mother said he was a mutant, and he had no reason to distrust. Had he not be born Saotome Ranma and lived the life he had, he knew he couldn't have accepted it as he has. Worse then all this was the fact an Agency specifically designed to track mutants down had been watching him for months, and he hadn't even so much as realized it happening right under his nose. It left so many questions. Questions like who was watching him, how long had they been watching him, what had they learned, what hadn't they learned? And the one question he wanted answered more then anything. What would they do with what they knew?<p>

"Damn it." he grumbled, turning on the faucet, a stream of cold water coming forth. Even though a week had passed, he didn't have any more of a clue then he did when this whole thing started. At least everyone believed the load of bull Nodoka fed them about the mess, though Nabiki had been staring at him a lot lately. Just more weird shit to add to his life.

If his problems weren't enough, he still hadn't thought of a way to deal with his mother, or the fact she was a part of that damn Agency Nero, or the insecurity he had been feeling ever since he discovered that damn mutant bill applied to him too. That sickened him, he didn't care when he wasn't a mutant, but now that he was one he couldn't stop thinking about the possibilities such a bill could bring him. Would he be locked up? Chained? Hell, killed? If he had learned anything from Mr. Hisagawa, his history teacher, was that if no one learned from their mistakes they would be doomed to repeat them. The fact mutants could almost be considered your modern day Jews, and the fear and uncertainty of the world at large for mutants your modern day Hitler, only stressed the fact things could turn bad real quick.

And then there was Akane. He screwed up, he knew it. There was something different about worrying her that he might be hurt, to making her cry cause she thought he was dead. She was angry, and damned if he couldn't blame her for it. He didn't know which was worse, the fact he knew she was pissed off at him, or the fact she did the only thing he never thought she would do, well... at least after the whole Saffron thing. She ignored him. Being ignored, he realized bitterly, was worse then not being ignored by Akane. Life sucked.

Pop and Tendo didn't really seem all that changed, at least Tendo didn't. Pops acted like he forgave him, but he could tell by looking into those eyes of his that wasn't entirely true. Try as he might, he couldn't remember any time in his life he had seen his father look at him that way. Now that he had, he wished he didn't. What he could see in those eyes was something he realized he dreaded more then anything. Disappointment. His old man was disappointed in him. Despite all the hell he caused raising him, the stupid neko-ken, endless torture methods he called training, cruel nights spent hungry and cold in the wilderness, he'd gladly go through it all again if only to never see that look again. Damn, he never really thought of it, but he cared for the old bastard more then he thought.

He ran his hand through the water, ignoring the brief tingle that shot over his body as mass reduced, his chest expanded, and captain winky went into hiding. Looking up in the mirror, she sighed at the sight of red hair framing her petite head and the obviously feminine features on her face. At least there was one thing in his life that remained constant.

She chuckled, leaning forward and tracing the edges of her face on the mirror, "You ain't ever gonna turn on me, are you?" she sighed after a time. At least becoming a mutant hadn't taken this away from her. Not that she would have minded if it did, but it just goes to prove not everything changed at the drop of a hat.

A soft knock at the door startled her from her thoughts, "Uh... who, who is it?"

"Ranma?" Kasumi's voice wafted through the door. "Breakfast is ready. You'll need to hurry if you don't want to be late for school."

"'kay." Ranma sighed, "Be out soon."

* * *

><p>Ranma yawned, walking on top the chain link fence to school.<p>

"Not getting enough sleep, Saotome?" Nabiki hmmed, casually brushing back her hair, "Or is it trouble on the home front." she remarked in amusement, staring at her sister walking ahead of them by no more then five feet. She found it rather comical the way Akane was dealing with her anger. Better then going psycho, but she knew the girl wouldn't keep ignoring Ranma forever. Despite all the trouble they had been through to reach this point, she had no misconceptions that the two cared for each other.

"Whatever." he grunted, crossing his arms and pointedly ignoring the middle Tendo girl.

"Fine fine." she waved him off, "I didn't want to know, anyway."

"Then why ask?" Akane snapped.

Nabiki blinked, then chuckled as Akane continued walking away. She really wished the girl would just come out and say it. It was obvious, both by observations, and other less savory ways, that she cared for the jock. Heck, she knew the girl was just upset that the jock had even worried her in the first place, and the fact he hadn't even apologized. It was a shame the girl didn't understand the guy like she did, else this whole mix up would have long since been in the past. Well, at least on their end. She still wasn't convinced Nodoka and Ranma weren't hiding something, but even after a week of trying to figure it out had yielded zero, zilch, zip, nada.

"Hear me! Students of these hallowed halls, a plague has descended upon the nation of Japan!" Kuno's voice carried from the Schoolyard.

Ranma blinked, coming out of his thoughts. What was Kuno up to now?

"What the?" Akane frowned, before quickening her pace.

Ranma shot Nabiki a glace, before taking off. Shrugging, she hastened her step as well.

* * *

><p>Kuno smirked, admiring the crowds of gathering students and faculty alike. Surely this must be the will of the great Miyamoto Musashi! He has infused me with his will, to declare the very will of the gods on the sad peasants beneath. Tis truly a good day! "Ask what treachery could be so great as to fall unnoticed among the peasants? Tis simple! Mutants fair student body, mutants have disgraced the great Japan with their unclean ways!" he crowed.<p>

Whispered murmuring started amongst the crowds of students; occasionally phrases such as "What the heck?" and "What did mutants do?" would rise from the crowd, but most were lost in the rapid succession of questions from the other students.

Ranma gave the students a weird look, before glaring at Kuno. "What's that dork doin now?"

Nabiki frowned, "His father is one of those big supporters of the Mutant screening bills. Donated a rather sizable amount to Takahashi's pocket, all for the bill." she scowled.

"Hey!" Akane hmmphed, "Don't go saying that bill's all bad because people like the Kuno's support it!"

"Eh..." he sighed, glare evaporating into a blank stare.

Kuno's eyes traced the crowd, quickly finding the three teens huddled towards the outer edge, simply watching. Wait... could this be? That vile Saotome always interfered with his Divine duties, no matter how pure it could be. But... by Musashi's blade! He was just standing there, looking at him with not hate for his righteousness, but... yes... yes that had to be it. That foul cur respected him! Surely it is a sign of both the Heavens and Hell that his duty be done! Very well. On this rare occurrence, the Righteousness of Heaven, and the foul abyss of hell shall join forces to combat the mutant disgrace! "Do you not know the danger? Mutants walk among us, undetected, plotting their nefarious schemes to doom us! Look towards the mighty empire of Gainax! Were they not assaulted? Were they not trespassed by those with tainted blood?"

Murmurs picked up among the crowd, varying from disbelief to revelation.

"Fear not peons!" Kuno cried, which earned his fair share of glares, "For we are not alone in our disgust! Behold!" he pointed towards Ranma, "Even the foul Saotome dares not disclaim the logic I present! He remains silent! He knows the truth of heaven is sure!"

Numerous eyes swiveled towards the boy, who continued to watch Kuno with no outward reaction.

Nabiki face palmed. Where the hell did Kuno get that stupid idea from? She knew Ranma, they guy was about as likely to agree with Kuno as Akane was when it came to admitting she had a rage problem. That idiot!

The murmurs soon became startled whispers when Ranma made no move to refute Kuno's claims. More and more of the gathered crowd, seeing Ranma of all people not contradict Kuno, began to shout in fear.

"What can we do?"

"Mutants! AHHH! We're all gonna die!"

"Only good mutants a dead one!"

Ranma shuddered. He wanted to say something, to fight everything that bastard was saying. He couldn't, he was so confused he just didn't know what to say. Were mutants dangerous? He didn't think so, but even he had seen the destruction wreaked upon Gainax because a mutant hated something so simple as a damn Anime! His own mother was practically a spy for an Agency that as far as he could tell wanted every last mutant on the planet in a holding cell! What the hell could he say without being the biggest god damn hypocrite in Japan?

Nabiki poked the jock, "Hey!" she hissed, "Aren't you going to say something? These idiots believe every word he's saying!"

"Leave me alone." Ranma snapped, tearing his eyes away from Kuno and simply walking towards the school. He needed to think.

She couldn't believe it. Ranma 'Protect the weak' Saotome was... walking away? Didn't the jerk get it? Just by walking away the whole school was going to think everything Kuno said was true! "Ranma! DO SOMETHING DAMN IT!"

"Nabiki, calm down." Akane grabbed her by the shoulder, trying to hold her in place, "It's just Kuno, okay? No one's going to believe him once they actually think about it!"

"You witness the truth! For the likes of I and Saotome to join in the crusade against mutants it could only mean one thing!" he took in a deep breath, "Mutants are a scourge on this world! They must be destroyed, for the heavens wrath shall be swift but sure!" Kuno crowed, the crowd shouting off in cheers and screams of anticipation they felt after Kuno's moving speech. After all, if Ranma agreed with him, there had to be some merit in all this!

"Oh yeah, no one's going to believe him." Nabiki snapped, scowling at the gathered crowd.

"Eh... heh..."

* * *

><p>Within the halls of villains, evil did stir.<p>

"Colonel Takahashi." Musashi bowed respectfully, "We did not expect a visit from you so soon, Taisa"

Takahashi was a bear of a man, especially considering his Japanese heritage. Roughly six feet, with a well refined build, short black hair, and serious dark eyes. "I dislike wasting valuable resources for such mundane things as a welcome." he grunted, removing his hat. "I'm here by order of the Diet."

"Sir!" Musashi saluted, "What can we do for you?"

"The Diet received information from a Professor Inua Hiami concerning problems that would occur if this Mutant screening bill is passed." he glared, "I would like to dissuade him from bothering the Diet with such concerns."

It was public knowledge the Colonel was one of the prime supporters for the Bill, in fact he practically designed it. Reaching over to his phone, he paged the good doctor, "Hiami to my office, Musashi out."

"He'll be along momentarily."

"Good." the Colonel nodded, "In the mean time, give me a run down of Nero's readiness. I want this Agency at full readiness once that bill is passed."

"Ah." Musashi coughed, "Teams Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie are ready to be deployed. The Anti-Reinforced-Mutant Armor, or ARMAs for short, have been tested against all known mutant abilities, their durability falling well within estimated levels."

"How about the Personal Armored Sentinels (PAS)? I received disturbing reports of technical complications during it's initial testing." the Colonel frowned dangerously at that. The PAS's were personally designed by him, and being a man who despised failure in all it's form, it was a personal mark on his record should they fail to live up to their expectations.

"Ah..." Musashi sighed, "As you know, the majority of the schematics were based off the secret Sentinel Program in America. Due to the inherit design flaws from their incompetent scientists, we ran into a problem with the energy source. It simply doesn't generate enough."

Takahashi snorted, "Are you telling me you can't solve something so simple as a power problem? We are Japanese, Musashi. The Americans pale to our technological might and understanding! How can you even suggest we, the superior race could fail to fix such a simple problem?" Bastard Americans. Leave it to them to screw something up so much nothing but their failed logic could actually get it to work.

Musashi suppressed the urge to wince. Takahashi's racism and bigotry, of the American people especially, was no guarded secret. To even suggest the Americans were better at anything sort of dying was akin to career suicide when it came to Takahashi. "No sir! I'm happy to report we have discovered the problem, and are even now working to correct it. However, do to time constraints and the upcoming convention on Mt. Fuji, we do not believe we have the needed time to have the PASs fully operational for all field agents."

"That will have to suffice." the Colonel scowled.

Which is why Musashi was very thankful Hiami chose just that moment to arrive. "Ah, Hiami. Good of you to join us." he was careful not to let his relief show. "Taisa Takahashi wishes to have a word with you."

Hiami smiled, "Ah! Taisa Takahashi. I've heard much about you from my colleagues." he bowed respectfully, "To what do I owe the honor?"

"Are you Inua Hiami?"

Hiami blinked, then nodded, "Yes sir."

Rounding the older man, Takahashi continued, his tone deadly serious, "It has come to my attention you do not approve of the Mutant Screening Bill. In fact, you outright oppose it, even going so far as to contact the Diet directly to express your concerns. Is this true?"

"Eh..." he nodded, "Yes sir. After reviewing the bill in it's..."

"That's enough." he waved the other man's explanation, before surprising everyone as he pulled his sidearm free from it's holster. With no time to react, Hiami screamed as Takahashi pulled the trigger, blasting the poor man's hand through.

Crumpling to the ground, he whimpered, holding the bloody hand protectively, "Shit! SHIT! Oh god, he shot me!"

Reholstering his gun, the man replaced his hat before turning to leave, offering only a brief word, "Your concern has been noted. You have five minutes to exit this installation, or the hole in your hand will be the least of your concerns, traitor."

"Bu... traitor? No!" Hiami whimpered.

"Get him out of my sight." Takahashi scowled as he left the room.

* * *

><p>This was getting weird, even by Nerima standards. She could admit that to herself, but she couldn't understand what was actually going on. Nabiki had a point, Ranma would be the last person in this school to agree with anything Kuno or his nutty father preached, yet even she couldn't deny the fact the jerk wasn't fighting it. It was strange, it shouldn't be happening this way, and she just didn't have a clue what could be wrong.<p>

Akane was, more or less, stumped. For a second she thought to ask Ranma, but quickly buried that notion. That jerk still hasn't apologized!

Sighing, she managed to tear her eyes off Hinako and her lesson. Ranma was just sitting there, staring out the window, lost in his own thoughts. The big jerk didn't even realize what was going on! Argh!

"Hin... mu...?"

Akane blinked. Hinmu? What the heck was that.

"May... ane..."

Hinmu? Mayane? Akane blinked. People were whispering all around the room, it was a miracle Hinako hadn't caught them yet. When she felt some one poking her in the back, she had to restrain the urge to scream. Looking back, she found a folded piece of paper practically shoved in her face by one of her classmates. Confused, she hesitantly took the pre-offered note, giving them girl who handed it to her a strange look before opening it.

"Akane-

Do you think Hinako-sensei's a mutant?

Y/N

Nimonia"

Akane blinked. Hinako, a mutant? That's the craziest thing she ever... Wait. She... she could be, now that she thought about. Draining life energy? No, that's silly. Hinako couldn't be a... wait a second... she could even fire blasts of energy, just like that mutant in the news! Yeah... no wait, this was Hinako-sensei! She never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it! Thats right! She couldn't be... no wait, didn't she drain a whole bunch of people when she first showed up trying to get Ranma? But the jerk wouldn't stand still and take his punishment! Yeah! That's right! Hinako couldn't possibly... eer... then again, growing from a child to an adult instantly was really really weird...

Quickly circling the Y, Akane folded the paper and handed it back. She would have to watch Hinako more closely, just to be safe. Yep, that's what she'll...

"AHA!" Sho Yamazaki, one of Kuno's Kendo Club cronies suddenly shouted, jumping from his seat and pointing a finger accusingly at their instructor "I knew it! You're a mutant!"

Hinako blinked, pulling the lollipop from her mouth, "Hmm? Is a mutant nice?" she frowned cutely, "Or a delinquent?"

"You can't fool us!" Sho sneered, waving a paper around in the air for all to see, "Even the pure delicate flower, Akane Tendo, can see through your lies! Behold able bodied classmates! The perfection that is Akane Tendo agrees with Master Kuno! Hinako-sensei..." it was odd, since he said that respectfully while trying to incite the class against the educator, "... is a mutant!"

Ukyo blinked. Being late to school that day, she had completely missed Kuno baka's decorum, and was rightfully confused, "Geesh sugar, calm down."

"NAY!" from seemingly out of no where Kuno came crashing through the doors, "So it's true! You are a mutant! A unholy pustule on the universe!"

Akane lowered her head, embarrassed. How the heck did everything just suddenly go to hell? She risked a glance towards Ranma, whimpering when she saw him still staring out the window, completely lost in his own thoughts. The idiot didn't even realize Kuno was in the room, trying to organize a witch hunt against a currently pre-schooler!

"Mr. Kuno!" Hinako cried, "Are you being a delinquent! I bet you arrrrrrrrre!"

"Be silent, knave. For too long has your black evil soul darkened these halls!"

"Yeah! Darkened these halls!" Sho cried.

"Thank you, lower classman Yamazaki!" Kuno praised the loyal peasant. For surely, the gods have blessed him with such gratuitous servitude! He shall strive not to disappoint the gods.

"Oh... Kuno-sempai..." Sho whispered dreamily, eyes sparkling.

Ukyo gagged, while Akane slammed her head against the desk. This was getting way too weird.

"Mr. Kuno!" Hinako chirruped, cutting in, "If you don't return to your class immediately, I'll be forced to discipline you!" so saying, she retrieved a strange small yen piece, strange as in the weird circle directly in the middle.

"Pfeh." Kuno waved his hand, dismissing such petty tricks, "Now that I know your true form, the gods would surely protect me from your foul sorceries!"

"Really?" Hinako pouted, staring at her yen piece as if it had betrayed her, she sniffed, "You... you meanie!"

"Such theatrics, I'm impressed." he nodded appreciatively. "Notice how the fake tear rolls down her cheek, no doubt trying to trick me into lowering my guard. Well, NAY! NAY I SAY! BEGONE FOUL EDUCATOR!"

"Yeah! Get her Kuno-sempai!"

"She's a mutant! You can't trust a mutant!"

"BURN HER! BURRRRRRRRRRRN HER!"

"She's a witch! She turned me into a newt!"

Everyone blinked, turning their gaze to Higashi, the class weirdo. This being Nerima, that meant something.

"What? I got better..." he sweat dropped.

Akane slammed her heat against her desk, repeatedly, mumbling like a mantra, "Bad dream. Bad dream. Not happening. Bad dream. Why won't I wake up?"

Ukyo had seen, much to her dismay, far too many Hinako drainings first hand to not realize what was about to happen. "Hell with these idiots!" she dived to the side.

"HAPPO-FIVE-YEN-SATSU!"

Instantly Ki blasted from all the students, forming large streamers of green energy as she sucked the power into herself, slowly her body grew, bust increasing as her hair grew to match her larger body.

Kuno collapsed, along with the rest of the class "I... fight... on!"

Akane wanted to smack him in the face, but being in the line of fire for Hinako's ki drain, she had little strength to follow the impulse through.

"Delinquents." Hinako smirked, tossing her hair back. It was then she caught of a glimpse of some one, more importantly, of some one still standing.

Ranma, completely out of it, remained staring out the window, seemingly unaffected by Hinako's Happo-five-yen-satsu.

"Ahem." Hinako tried to get his attention.

Nothing.

"A~hem!"

Nothing.

"Mr. Saotome!" she scowled.

Ranma blinked, startled out of his day dreaming. "Uh? Wha?" Whoa, what the hell happened? Everyone looked to have a first encounter of the Hinako-kind. "Geesh teach, how we suppose to learn anything with you drainin everyone?"

She was just a bit unnerved by the fact the entire class had just seemed ready to riot, on her no less. Ranma's smart ass remark was just enough to annoy her. "Happo-five-yen-satsu!"

Nothing happened.

Ranma blinked, "Uh..." Well that was weird. "Can I go to the bathroom?"

Hinako stared at her coin blankly. What the hell just happened. She was so out of it, she didn't even notice Ranma leave the room.

* * *

><p>"And then Kuno showed up screaming something about mutants, next thing I knew she drained us!" Akane growled, kicking a loose rock on the sidewalk in frustration.<p>

Nabiki whistled. Sure, she had heard about the incident, little happened in her school with out her knowing about it. In fact, given certain spy-ware, she doubted anything passed her notice. "I can't believe you guys tried to riot on her. Are you nuts?"

"What? Don't look at me!" Akane exclaimed, trying to defend herself, "I didn't want anything to do with it! It's all Kuno's fault!"

"Sure." Nabiki shrugged, "So where was Ranma during all this?"

Ranma, walking along the chain fence, shook his daydreams off when he heard his name being called, "Eh? What?"

"Pfeh. That jerk wasn't even paying attention!" she then pointed a finger accusingly at the boy, "He even came up with a technique against Hinako's drain! Argh!"

Ranma looked stupefied, "Eh... no I didn't?"

"Jerk! I saw you! You didn't even look winded!"

Nabiki frowned, for a second wondering just what was on the jocks mind. She knew him well enough to know he wouldn't lie out right, especially about a technique. What would be the point? It's not like he would teach anyone.

Ranma frowned, then shrugged, "Fine, whatever. Don't believe me."

"ARRGH! Why do you always make this about you!" Akane scowled!

"Wha..."

"It's always about you you you!" she continued, voice dropping a few octane as she tried to imitate him, "Oh, woe is me, everyone picks on me, boo hoo hoo! I'm just a jerk I don't even care if I hurt anyone, boo hoo hoo!"

"Hey!" he shouted, scowling angrily, "What the heck is your problem?"

Akane shuddered, "You... never pay attention." she whimpered out, before taking off in a run.

Nabiki quickly fell into the realm of the perpetually shocked. Whoa...

Ranma watched her go, the look of confusion slowly fading away to recognition, then to rage, "Fine! I'm outta here!" so saying, he turned around and began running in the opposite direction.

Nabiki quickly found herself standing alone in the street, shocked. The fact Akane had gone off like that freaked her, she wouldn't have ever expected her to talk about that, in public no less. "Oh God..."

* * *

><p>To be Continued (Maybe)<p>

8/8/11: Wow, I forgot how short some of these chapters are. I do know they get damn lengthy in the future. Ah well, here ya go.


	4. Chapter 4

The Ultimate Antidote

Written By: Matdeception

Ranma 1/2 Notes: Takes place after the manga.

X-Men: Evolution Notes: Time line all fucked up, but I'm starting to care.

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor would I pretend to own the copy rights for Ranma 1/2, or X-men: Evolution. I write to pay homage to the original authors, and to increase my own writing skills. I do not seek to use their intellectual property for monetary gain.

-0-0-0-

Chapter 4: Cerebro's full of shit.

-0-0-0-

It was at times like these, during the early morning hours, just before sunrise where she truly realized the luck she had finding Xavier. Though she was practically revered as a god among the Kenyan Tribe in Africa, nothing back there could compare to the warm feelings she felt every morning here at the school.

Ororo Monroe, also know as Storm to her closest friends, brought the steaming cup of coffee to her lips. She breathed on it a little, to cool the steaming liquid within, before tentatively sipping it. Ah, yes. She certainly did enjoy the quiet hours of the morning, before the kids woke up for school. It wouldn't last, nothing ever did, but for now she could enjoy the relative peace and silence.

Scott Summers, also known as Cyclops, was a morning person too. Not nearly as much as she was, but being the figurative leader for the children, she supposed that was what he believed was expected of him. Slowly, lethargically, he stumbled into the kitchen, stopping by the fridge and retrieving the carton of orange juice.

"Morning Scott."

"Muning." he mumbled, reaching for a glass and pouring himself a drink. God he hated mornings. "S'a professor back yet?"

"Afraid not." Storm sipped her coffee.

"Where did he go, anyway?"

"He discovered a recent mutant activation through Cerebro." It surprised her Scott hadn't truly realized the Professor was always watching the world, with help from Cerebro, for mutants. It was how he found the majority of the students in the first place.

"Ah." he grunted, refilling his glass before returning the carton to the fridge, "Guess I can expect a new recruit?"

Storm shrugged, "It's possible."

Scott frowned at that. He didn't have any problems with new recruits, in fact he welcomed it, but the Professor had been gone over a week as it was. It wasn't strange from him to be gone the span of three, four days, and he knew he was probably worrying about nothing, but week long absences were rare. Still... he was probably worrying about nothing.

-0-0-0-

Today was just one train crash after another. Kuno, Hinako, even Akane. Everything was spiraling out of control. What could he do? He knew Akane deserved an apology for all the crap she had to put up with recently. He even wanted too, but every time he tried he just got so angry, and not even angry at Akane, at his own damn self.

The thing with Hinako sucked. Poor girl didn't deserve what she was gettin, he did. He was the mutant, he was the tainted blood. He was the one everyone hated...

"Oh screw this!" he scowled, slamming his fists against the bridges railing, smashing the stone like it was tissue paper. He was not going down that road. He wasn't going to drown himself in self pity. Hell, if people hated mutants so be it. Being depressed about it wasn't helping anybody, and being silent only seemed to piss people off more. Screw em, screw em all.

"Ranma?"

Ranma blinked. Oh, when did Ryoga get here?

-0-0-0-

"You sure this is the kid, Chuck?" Logan wasn't terribly impressed. A little taller then he was, decent build he guessed, and looking so depressed he'd give Rogue a run for her money.

Xavier said nothing, simply watching the child. The two had stopped at the edge of the bridge, watching the boy who stood towards the very middle, facing south. The boy's mind was in turmoil over something, though he suspected what it was, he couldn't be sure.

"Oh screw this!" the boy scowled, slamming his fists against the bridges railing, a small explosion of stone blasting outward from the force of his attack.

Logan raised an eyebrow. Kid smashed solid stone, in public even. Weird, none of the pedestrians seemed perturbed by it, in fact they out right ignored it.

Xavier was surprised, though he carefully hid that fact behind his calm visage. Cerebro, when it first detected the mutant's mutation, didn't even hint behind super strength. In fact, the boys mutation didn't appear as anything destructive, but more passive. Could Cerebro have been mistaken?

It didn't seem plausible. In all the times it had detected the mutant gene, it had not been wrong, so that begged the question of just how this mutant was different from the others.

-0-0-0-

Ryoga really didn't like his situation. After he passed out the last time he met Ranma, he had gotten lost rather quickly. All he wanted to do was find the Tendos, Akari's Pig farm, or his own home. He really needed a change of clothes.

Even after a week, he still hadn't met with any luck. He was seriously considering launching a Shi Shi Houkodon for some relief. That was the problem with his life, he knew it. Using depression to channel his Ki, at first it had seen so easy, but as time wore on he began to discover the true danger of such things. He had to always be depressed, or there wouldn't even be a point in using the technique. Which sucked, who wanted to always be depressed? He sure as hell didn't.

After Saffron, he had made his choice. He'd shake off his depression, and learn to do things with out an emotional crutch. Though... he knew he couldn't do it alone. It was like an addiction. He had gotten use to hating people, gotten use to the power wrought through his endless depression. That was why he asked Ranma to help, to help him break the addiction. If Ranma was going through the same thing he was, trying to end the addictive cycle, well, if Ranma could do it then he could also.

"Oh screw this!" a scream followed by the familiar sound of property damage echo in front of him.

Ryoga blinked. When did he enter the city? Following the dusty cloud brought up by the crash, he spotted the boy of his recent thoughts.

"Ranma?" he'd have to be blind not to see it. He knew the ass enough to know he wasn't into random destruction. The jerk practically prided himself on not causing damage needlessly, a fact he had been secretly ashamed of for some time. In the heat of battle, fueled by his depression, he just couldn't keep the big picture in his head. It was always go go go go, never watch out for bystanders.

Ranma turned around, blinking in surprise at finding him there. He sighed a moment later, "Sup, Ryoga."

"Not much." he grunted, stepping up beside the boy and dropping his pack. "Been looking for you."

"Eh.." Oh yeah. He had almost forgotten about their training agreement, "Sorry, y'know? Things been hectic."

"Pfeh."

"Serious man. Everyone thought I was dead a week ago. Even Akane."

Ryoga blinked. Dead? Akane? "Uh... what?"

"It's complicated."

"Uncomplicate it." Ryoga scowled, deadly serious.

A nostalgic feeling settled over him, and he chuckled, remember saying the exact same words to his mom, "Forget it." he sighed, then turned serious, "We got problems, man."

"Eh?"

"We're being watched, and.." Ranma stopped suddenly, head snapping back and to the right.

Ryoga followed his gaze. Nothing seemed strange, except for the weird looking Gaijin's staring right at them.

"Let's get out of here." he hissed, sparing no time for an acknowledgement from Ryoga. Jumping on the damaged rail, he tensed his legs, leaping with such might he managed to clear the distance between the bridge and the street. Landing lightly, he wasted no time taking to the roofs.

Ryoga didn't have much time to react, but quickly donned his pack and followed after the retreating youth.

-0-0-0-

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Chuck, usin Maytag to fix Cerebro is a bad idea."

"Uh..." Xavier really didn't know what to say to that. The fact Cerebro had shown him a mutant wasn't in contest. The fact Cerebro had completely missed the mutant's abilities was another. He could swear the boy's mutation had nothing to do with physical capabilities. In fact it was rather tame to most mutations he knew of. But... could it have been mistaken?

Logan snorted, "Well, what now?"

"I know where he's going." Xavier shrugged, reaching down and unlocking his brakes, "We have some time."

"Eh?" Logan had to stop himself from asking just how Chuck knew what he did. Who was he kiddin? A telepath like Chuck wouldn't have any problems probing a kids head for what he wanted. "We gonna scope out the place?"

"Hmm. No." Xavier smiled, "Let's make like tourists, I always wanted a bonsai plant."

"Eh..." Chuck wanted to go shopping?

-0-0-0-

"What the hell's wrong with you!" Ryoga hissed. The two had stopped on top an abandoned warehouse near the harbor. The fact it was so damn far from Nerima didn't matter, the fact he was confused as all hell did matter.

"Those foreiners were watching us!" Ranma scowled

"So?" What's the big deal? They were just foreiners, heck, one of em was crippled!

Ranma sighed, shaking his head, "Ryoga, there's something I gotta tell you."

-0-0-0-

He wasn't the most patient of people, nor the happiest, but he was working on that last part. The story Ranma weaved was one of surprise, confusion, and dread with just a touch of a grade B spy movie mixed in for extra kick.

Ryoga was not amused. "You're kidding." he deadpanned.

"Wish I was." he sighed, rubbing his neck tiredly. "Think man. Why would I wanna lie about something this crazy?"

"So... your a mutant." he clarified. He had heard of the Mutant screening bill, but honestly he had been too busy with his own life to really give more then a crap about it. "Some stupid Agency kidnapped you, told you about as much, and you some how managed to escape?"

"Eh... yeah."

"And you heard they had been watching you and me, to see if we could be recruited?"

"Bout right." He didn't say anything about his mother. He had promised, and even though he trusted Ryoga most out of everyone, at least out of the people who weren't pissed off at him, he just couldn't betray his mother like that. "It sounds stupid, but I swear its the truth."

This was crazy shit. Ranma was a mutant, some government Agency was spying on him for who knew how long, and he had no idea what to think of it. Though... wait a minute, if they were watching him to recruit him, how would they actually do it? He really didn't care about much, and he was too much of a wanderer to really make friends. Heck, his own parents hadn't been home in years, so he doubted they would try and use em to get to him. Argh! He just didn't know what to think.

"What are you going to do?"

Ranma scowled, "I dunno. Sure as hell ain't gonna join those whackadoos. They wanna turn me into some big experiment." Least, that was the general gist he got when he sat down and actually thought about it.

"What about Genma? Or your mom? You tell em yet?"

"Eh, nah." he hesitantly responded, a sure sign he was lying to anyone who knew him. Luckily, Ryoga was still freaked out by what he had heard to notice. "Pop's pissed at me, and mom... can you imagine what they would think if they found out?"

Ryoga could imagine, he guessed. "What now?"

Ranma shrugged staring out over the harbor, "I dunno." He really needed to see his mom. Even if only to talk, he was getting so confused with everything going on. "I'll catch you..." he blinked. Ryoga was gone, "What the?"

Crashing sound from the harbor alerted him to a ruckus, "Hey! RANMA! Where did you go?"

Ranma sweat dropped, watching as Ryoga literally tore through crates and warehouses before everything went silent as he rounded a corner. How could the guy get lost standing no more then five feet from him?

-0-0-0-

"Chuck." Logan scowled, trying to balance a large bonsai tree, and a smaller one the Doc had purchased. When did he get drafted into baggage bitch?

Xavier didn't seem to hear him, his nose curiously implanted in a book he had purchased along with the bonsai plants. "Simply fascinating, Logan. Did you know Bonsai originated not in Japan, but from China? It was adopted by the Japanese, mainly through Zen Buddhism, which was rapidly spreading through Asia at the time. Once introduced, the art was refined to an extent not yet approached by China. It became a symbol of prestige and honour, of the aristocracy." he smiled, "Truly fascinating."

"Why two plants?" Logan grumbled. It wouldn't have been so bad, but Chuck just had to choose a rather large one, and a small one, then he some how ended up lugging them around. If they were about the same size, he wouldn't have any trouble balancing, but one was far heavier then the other.

"Oh." he sighed, closing his book, "Actually, the Juniper is for Storm. She's always had an interest in bonsai."

That was an understatement if Logan ever heard one. Storm was the only woman he ever knew to have an indoor garden for a room. She even watered it, heck the first time she used her powers to do that it damn near flooded the lower levels out. "Right." He spared the building a long, thorough look. Chuck had lead them here over an hour ago, and so far nothing. It was starting to try his patience. "You sure about this, Chuck?"

"Quite." the man nodded, motioning towards the far side of the street, "There's our friend now."

Logan grunted, catching sight of the youth walking down the street.

-0-0-0-

Ranma shut the door, a sigh escaping his lips with the sound. He didn't know why, but as he was coming here he suddenly felt like he was being watched again. "Idiot." it was probably nothing, anyway. Just stress playing with his mind.

"Mom?" he called out. No response. Ah well, it's not like he was expecting her to be here. She did say she'd be busy for awhile. In either case, least he could hide out here, at least until Akane cooled down.

Taking two steps, his eyes widened in shock as he nearly slipped. Bracing himself against the wall, he looked towards the ground. "What the?" a small red puddle, partially dried. Touching the liquid, he brought it up to his face and stared. It was thick, kinda like ice-cream mostly melted. Tentatively taking a lick, he quickly spit it out. He had tasted the coppery taste of blood far too many times to not know what it was.

"But who.." he blinked then, looking up and towards the stairs. Sure enough, the trail of blood led there. Crap.

-0-0-0-

Xavier frowned, "Logan."

"Chuck?"

"Something's wrong. He's panicking."

He didn't need anymore encouragement, dropping the plants, Logan took off towards the house, unmindful of traffic in the street.

Logan didn't even have to break the door down, finding it unlocked. He spared Xavier a glance, the crippled man slowly making his way across the street. A moment of debate came to mind, wait for the man, or go ahead with out him. When the well known distinct stench of blood reached his nostrils, his decision was made for him.

Hands gripped tight, claws of glittering adamantium sliced through the flesh of his hands, right between the knuckles.

-0-0-0-

Ranma eased down the hallway, moving carefully with each and every step. The blood trail continued up the stairs, pooling a bit at the very top, as if whoever was bleeding had fallen and taken awhile to get back to their feet. It continued, all the way to his... his mothers door! "Mom!"

Slamming the door open, his eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness as he took stock of what he found. His mother was lying on her bed, right hand wrapped in a bloody rag. At some point her form had shifted to the blue skinned, red head he had come to realize was her true form. She was lying there, seemingly unconscious.

"Mom!" he nearly shouted, by her side in an instant. Lifting up her wounded hand carefully, he peeled back the rag, hissing at the sight of a rather large jagged hole in the palm of her hand. "Who did this to you?"

A shuddering painful exhale escaped her lips, the woman moaning painfully in her unconscious state. Her other hand opened, a small bottle of pills falling to the ground with a clatter.

Picking up the bottle, he blinked in confusion.

"X-Factor..."

His mind was swimming with the implications. What could have happened? Nero? But why? Didn't she work for them? Could it be someone he hadn't heard about yet? Why hadn't see gone to the hospital for this?

A crash from downstairs jerked his attention away from his mother. Quickly glancing back to her, then the door, his confused look quickly changed from confusion to deadly serious. His mind in turmoil, everything began to make sense. She had been attacked here, that's why she didn't think to get to a doctor. Whoever hurt his mom was stupid enough to stay in the house. Oh, that was a bad... bad idea.

Fists balled in rage, he stood, leaving his mothers side.

-0-0-0-

Logan cursed, staring at the broken pottery. His attempt to remain quiet, foiled by a potted plant kept near the base of the staircase. Why the hell would anyone leave a stupid plant there?

A soft creak of wood echoed.

Logan's ear twitched. The sound came from upstairs. Quickly following sounds of footsteps, coming closer and closer to the top of the stairs. Dimly, a bluish hue began to appear, reflecting off the walls and roof. It was soft at first, almost invisible. The closer whoever this was came, the more light was reflected.

When the boy he and Chuck had been watching walked into his vision, surrounded by a slight aura of blue light, with a cold, almost emotionless mask cast over his features, he knew shit was about to hit the fan. The look of the boys eyes, like ice, the way his muscles tensed, with his knuckles turning white from the sheer force in his fists.

"Kid." Logan grunted, "You better calm down."

More dots connected in his head as he saw just who was in his mothers house. That strange foreiner he had caught watching him earlier today. Coincidence? He didn't believe that for a second. Catching sight of the metal blades sticking out of his hands, he had to wonder if this dick was some modern day Neko-ken reject. Though... it didn't matter.

Ranma scowled, raising his right hand as the aura around him began to glow slightly brighter, "Shine!" he cried, his aura vanishing completely as he pushed forward with his hand, a misshapen blob of rage induced Ki shimmering into existent only for a second, until it was fired.

-0-0-0-

Shine. A technique crafted by Ranma in the heat of the moment. His rage at his mothers attacker had left his confidence in the dust in terms of power. With his mind confused on recent happenings, he simply didn't have the confidence in himself the way he might have. The technique itself is extremely similar to the more popular Mokou Takabisha, or the Shi Shi Houkodon, but with one subtle difference. In his rage, Ranma lacked control to fully shape the orb of ki, far to gone to care. Because of this, the Ki sphere was left incomplete, littered with figurative fractures across it's form.

In a moment of total mindless rage, he had solved a problem inherit in the Shi Shi Houkodon, as well as his own inherently flawed Mokou Takabisha. Where both aforementioned techniques were based more on concussive force, like a battering ram or a strong punch. Shine, which stands for 'Die', generates much the same effect as those listed above, but upon contact with any surface, the fractures apparent across the energy sphere rupture, dealing considerable explosive damage.

-0-0-0-

Logan's eyes widened in shock, watching as the blob of energy erupted from his hand like a speeding bullet directly at him. Chuck had sworn the kids mutation wasn't destructive. While surprised, he was far from unready, being a teacher to a group of kids more then capable of causing surprising untold destruction had taught him well. Crossing his arms, he braced himself for impact.

Upon contact the energy ball exploded, blasting the surprised Logan back and off his feet a good eight feet, much of the area he had been standing in decimated by the mutants attack.

Falling backwards, he slammed his hands against the ground, claws disappearing as he gained enough leverage to flip backwards on to his knees. Preparing to lunge forward, hopefully catching the mutant, who he figured wasn't use to his powers yet, and thus probably overconfident that no one could survive such a hit. He received the surprise of his life as the boy literally flew down the stairs, head first.

As Logan jumped forward to surprise the mutant, he was ill prepared for the boy to land on his hands, roll forward to his feet, and jump straight up directly into his lunge, with strange glowing slivers just noticeable on the boys finger tips.

"SEI!" the boy shouted, just as Logan felt a tearing sensation starting at his stomach, trailing up his chest, stopping short of his neck. The force of the attack propelled him upwards, where his head slammed into the roof. Gravity asserted it's control, but the boy was far from done. Too fast for Logan to even get his bearings straight after that last attack, the boy grabbed him by his shoulders, pulling him forward and down as he jumped up, placing the balls of his feet behind Logan's head, and then letting gravity finish his work. Slamming headfirst into the ground, aided by the boy's weight on the back of his skull, Logan nearly lost consciousness. Any other man would have been killed by that blow, he was just lucky he was anything but normal.

After slamming Logan's head into the ground, Ranma jumped forward, landing on the ground in a roll, he came to his feet and turned to him. He didn't even twitch as Logan pulled himself to his feet.

Logan made a point of dusting off his shirt. The wounds in his chest were already half way healed, and the sudden migraine courtesy of the boy was fading away as well. Bending his head to the side, audible cracking sounds were heard. Finally, Logan turned around, glaring coolly at the boy, who made no move to attack in all that time.

"You done?" he asked, tone laced with boredom. He had to be careful with this one, he was anything but normal.

"You dead?" Ranma countered coolly.

"Heh. Kid, you ain't got a prayer." Logan smirked, bringing his hands up, claws once again breaking free.

Ranma snorted, wasting no time with words as he charged forward. Smirking, Logan lunged forward as well, carefully aiming his swings so as not to pierce any major organs. Which was why he was shocked when the boy literally defied the laws of inertia by suddenly stopping his forward run, side stepping, and ramming a powerful kick into Logan's ribs as he passed by, bending over just enough to avoid a swipe of his claws. The kick ejected him through the wall and out into the yard, all in the blink of an eye.

"Pfeh." the boy snorted in disdain, quickly following the man out into the yard.

"Shit..." he scowled, some blood escaping his lips as he struggled to catch his breath. This kid was fast. The Maximoff brat couldn't move that fast on a dime!

"I hope you said your prayers." the boy spoke, voice laced with chilling ice, "God awaits." he finished, stepping forward as bluish hewed slivers began to emerge from his finger tips, almost like claws.

Logan wasn't about to just lay down and die either. Struggling to his feet, he prepared to charge, only to blink when the boy suddenly stumbled to his knees, the bluish claws vanishings as cradled his head, before passing out entirely. Looking up, he let a relieved breath escape his lips. Chuck had finally arrived.

"Bout time, Chuck. This kids loaded for bear." he grumbled, letting his claws slide back into his hands, "An Cerebro's all screwed up. 'None-dangerous mutation' my ass."

"I can see that, Logan." Xavier sighed, "You okay?"

"Pfeh." he patted his torn shirt down, as if removing the tiny amount of dirt that had gotten on it would save it from all the battle damage it had gone through, "I'll be fine."

"Good. Bring him, I think it's time we find out just why he wanted to kill you."

-0-0-0-

"Mystique."

Some one was calling her name. Some one familiar... she just couldn't place it. "Hmm... not in the mood, panda-san."

"Mystique." the voice was more insistent.

Groggily, she forced the haze from her mind, immediately wishing she hadn't as the pain from her wound made itself quiet clear. "Ow... god." she grumbled, blearily looking around the room. God her head hurt, she needed her damn pills.

Seeing, of all people, Xavier and Wolverine in the room didn't help her headache one bit. Seeing her son lying limply by the door caused frantic panic to rise in her gut. "Ranma!" she hissed, ignoring the others as she struggled to her feet. She was so focused on her task, she didn't put up any resistance as Logan pushed her back down toward the bed.

"The boy is fine, I promise you." Xavier said with a sigh, and a comforting smile, "He's just dreaming for now."

Mystique glared, "What do you want?" If they hurt him, she swore she would kill them.

"Just to talk."

"Talk." she snapped.

Xavier nodded slowly, "He's a mutant, isn't he."

"Ranma?" she ventured, receiving a nod. "Can't you tell? I heard Cerebro was quite capable of detecting mutants." making sure to include ever ounce of loathing she could.

"What's his mutation?" he ignored her question, continuing. He was a tad bit confused. Cerebro had calculated his mutation to be completely passive, but what he saw in the boys mind, and with his own eyes completely contradicted that. The battle with Logan proved his mutation was something else entirely.

"What do I get if I tell you?" she said before realizing it. Wincing internally, old habits die hard, she never wanted to sell Ranma out like that. She had done it with Kurt, when a mob had tried to kill her, and look how that relationship turned out. She sighed, "Never mind. Some enhanced regeneration, immunity to most touched based energy transfers and attacks, and with diseases as well."

Xavier's eyebrow rose, "That can't be.." The proof was in front of him though. Mystique wasn't lying, he would know it if she was, "We just saw him able to manipulate strong sources of energy, forming it into a powerful projectile, and melee weapons."

Mystique blinked, then shrugged. There was very little about her son, save for the majority of his trip with Genma, that she didn't know. They were probably confused, just as she was, that a normal human would reach such peaks of personal power. "You're talking about Ki."

"Ki?" Logan grunted, with a snort, "You sayin this kid's a Ki master?"

Xavier blinked, then frowned, "Ki?" he took an inquisitive look, "Spirit energy?"

"Yeah Chuck." he gave the kid a whole new look of respect at that revelation, "I've never actually heard of anyone being able to use it, but rumors from my time as a merc spoke of fighters capable of freakish strength, speed, endurance. Heck, there was even a rumor of em throwin blasts of their Ki around." he shrugged, "They were just rumors, though."

Xavier was a smart man, probably one of the smartest. He was also incredibly trusting, but that stemmed more from the fact he could read peoples thoughts then anything else. He'd know if Mystique was lying, which she wasn't. At least, not this time. Which just begged the question of who the boy really was, and why he had tried to kill Logan. He remembered touching the boy's mind, it was a vortex of confusion, confidence, despair, and overwhelming rage. Rage at Logan for hurting his moth...

"You're his mother." Xavier whispered, almost in awe.

Logan blinked, "What?"

"... yes." she sighed.

"Damn, do you get around or what?" Logan remarked, disbelievingly.

"Logan." Xavier frowned at the man. That wasn't the best of things to say. Logan seemed to catch the drift, grunting in response. "What happened to your hand?"

Grabbing a bottle of pills nearby, they watched in confusion as the shape shifter popped the top, and swallowed a large amount of the pills straight. She took a second to catch her breath, "Bullets don't agree with me."

"You were shot?" Logan blinked.

"No shit, Sherlock." Mystique rolled her eyes.

"Why?"

She shrugged, lying back down and closing her eyes, "I was trying to crash Takahashi's Mutant Screening Bill." she smirked, "He took offense."

"I see." Xavier grumbled, "Before those pills take effect, I would like you to answer one more question."

She wasn't surprised he knew what the pills would do to her. That was the advantage of being a powerful telepath, she supposed, "What?"

"You must be aware, that Bill is going to pass. What do you plan to do when it does?"

"Haven't... thought about it." she mumbled, as the pills, designed to take effect quickly, began to induce slumber. "Run..."

"With the boy?"

"... love..." she mumbled one last word, before passing out.

Xavier sighed. "Let's go, Logan."

"What about the kid?" he grunted.

"She'll take care of him."

Logan snorted, "Chuck. That kind heart of yours is going to get us in trouble one of these days. It ain't like Mystique can take care of the kid, look at Kurt an Rogue."

"I have faith, Logan. She'll do what's right in the end."

Logan shrugged, "I've said my peace."

-0-0-0-

To Be Continued (Maybe)

Authors Notes: I am well aware of the damage a bullet can do to a hand, and Mystique won't suffer any loss of ability from being shot. The reason why, should be semi-clear, but I'll make it a point of explaining in the next chapter.

8/10/11: Not much changed in this chapter. Some light re-visioning, changed several curse words into a more socially acceptable format in order to make later uses of the words poignant.


	5. Chapter 5

The Ultimate Antidote

Written by: Matdeception

Ranma 1/2 Notes: Takes place after Saffron and the failed wedding.

X-Men Evolution: Shortly after Wanda showed up, who showed up far earlier in the series in this 'verse. Day of Reckoning is still far off.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights of Ranma 1/2, nor X-men evolution. I write this piece of fan fiction to pay homage to the original creators, and nothing more. Nor would I ever seek to monetary gain through said intellectual property.

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: The bill is passed; Hot death visits Nerima.<p>

* * *

><p>With a simple click, the lights flared to life, blinding any who had become accustomed to the darkness prior to the lights coming on. That only applied to one person, and he ignored it.<p>

Karika Musashi, Commander of Agency Nero, Japan's first, last and currently only line of offense against the growing mutant menace, walked into the large sterilized research lab. Stepping over various cables littering the floor running from one diagnostics machine to another, Musashi wondered what part they played in the overall design and development of mutant countermeasures. He pushed that away as he realized it wasn't important, not like the towering behemoths of iron and steel pressed against the wall, held in place by magnetic locks. The lifeless yellow optical sensors staring blankly outward, he grinned knowing just how these particular weapons were meant to defend the pure from the unclean.

Personal Armored Sentinels, or PAS as the upper brass called them, were similar to the secret Sentinel program of America, but with many key differences. The laser turrets had been removed from its torst, retrofitted with a pilots seat and controls, thus making the automated machines piloted weapons, while similar to the designs stolen from abroad, sported some new intimidating firepower. Combined with the units high combat capabilities, lethal energy rounds from its arms, mutant identification sensors, Bakali to seal mutants in stasis, missile turrets, and last but not least the Wave Disruptor; a theoretical system designed to emit varying waves of electromagnetic interference proven to disrupt mutations, all together combining into a formidable weapon. One thing Japan realized, or Takahashi really, was that leaving the fighting to mere machines just wasn't satisfactory. They had to be there, see with their own eyes as the mutants were brought to heel. Leave it to machines, and you never knew if the job ever truly got done.

"Such wonderful instruments of death." Musashi chuckled, watching the silent killers with no small amount of respect and anticipation.

"Must you slobber over them, Sashi?"

Musashi bristled angrily, "Galloway."

Galloway was a mystery to him. Incredibly intelligent, with numerous degrees in fields Musashi hadn't even realized existed. He, along with Doctor Hiami, had virtually constructed each and every device that mimicked mutant mutations. It was a wonder Takahashi even let the foreigner do as much as he did.

"Is there an actual purpose for your visit?" the short slim scientist asked, busily typing away at his keyboard.

"I came down to inform you Hiami is..."

"Gone, fired, terminated." Galloway snorted, "Sashi, my assistants will be arriving soon, I'd be pleased if you wouldn't bother us with such trivial concerns."

"Wha, how?"

"Mr. Hiami came by and raided our experimental drug supply." the doctor commented, idly pointing to a medicine cabinet. The cabinet was trashed, hand prints smeared with blood marking the door, the floor littered with bottles, their contents spread everywhere.

Musashi frowned, "And you didn't stop him?"

Galloway blinked, "I didn't realize my contract included security."

"Idiot! What if he stole an Omega protocol?"

Galloway stopped what he was doing, "Oh dear." he shrugged, "I knew we were missing something dreadful. Oh well."

"Wha! You?" Musashi turned red, hands twitching sporadically.

"But, since the Omega protocol is kept in the vault, the likely hood of that is nil." the man finished with a smile. "A sample of the X factor was taken, however."

"X factor?"

"An experimental drug designed in Essex's report." Galloway shrugged, "It's designed for use by our field officers, imitating the healing factor of a mutant known as Wolverine. It's not nearly as potent as the true mutation, but it will eventually get the job done."

Musashi growled, "Why wasn't I notified of this?" At least he knew why the doctor took it, what with his bullet wound.

"Of the X factor theft? Or of the X factor itself?"

Musashi bristled. The man was just trying to get a rise out of him! "Both!"

"It wasn't finished." he shrugged, "While its effects as are we intended, the side effect makes the drug useless in the actual field. It induces a deep slumber within seconds of ingestion. I'm sure you can understand the impracticality of taking these during the heat of battle." he waved the man off, "As I said, I'm not a member of security. Now, if you please Sashi, I'm very busy."

Growling, the man snapped around and walked away.

* * *

><p>Ranma didn't know if he even wanted to understand all the crap he just heard. X factor? Xavier? Mutants with the dream of leading humans into a new age, heck, even mutants wanting to take over the world? Why the hell did he have to deal with this crap? Why couldn't he just be left the hell alone to live his damn life? It's not like his mutation was dangerous, he didn't even give a damn about stupid politics. If they wanted to take over the world, let em try.<p>

"Ranma." Mystique, having long sense resumed her Nodoka persona, placed a hand gently over his, "Dear, I know this is going too fast to understand. Things rarely make sense like that. Just please, trust me. Everything's going to be fine."

"Fine?" he blinked, "Fine!" he scowled, "This is crazy! Ever since I found out you were a mutant, everything's gone to hell! Everyone's pissed off, an you go off an get shot by the same bastards you're workin for. Found out their watchin to recruit me, then those dorks show up from America or wherever tryin to recruit me, heck, even Kuno's tryin to recruit me over this shit! You ask me to trust you after all the damn lies?" he ripped his hand away bitterly.

He was more angry at himself then her. Just the sight of his mother lying in her bed, bleeding like she was, had set him over the edge. He was no better then a cold bloodied killer at that point. It was crazy luck that dick could regenerate like he could. He held no illusions, the guy would have died without a super-regeneration mutation like he had. All that, the rage, the fact he was willing to kill at the drop of a hat was what hurt him deep down. The rage, everything, it only showed him that even some one who claims to 'Protect the weak' could just as easily kill an innocent.

Nodoka sighed, shaking her head sadly, "Dear. I know you're upset. I know you're scared. We'll get through."

"Shut up!"

She winced, "Dear I..."

"No!" he rolled back, jumping to his feet, "I don't want to hear it anymore! As far as I care, this isn't my problem!"

There were perhaps few things that could seriously piss Nodoka off. When things weren't going her way, she got pissed. When people refused to face the truth, she got pissed. When her own son refused the truth, she got furious. Faster then he had ever seen the woman move she was up in his face, and while he saw the blow coming he just stared dumbly as the woman slapped him.

"You think this is about you?" she scowled, "You're nothing compared to the big picture! A tick, a pathetic bug they could squash in a moments notice!" she grabbed him by the shirt, getting directly in his face, "You can't run from yourself. Can't blame everyone else for your own damn problems! Once that bill is passed, no one's going to care if you helped them before. No one's going to care if you saved their life. You'll be targeted before the ink dries! You will be taken, at best they'd kill you, but I know Musashi. I know Takahashi. They'll use you, make you kill each and everyone with the mutant gene before making you take your own damn life! Is that what you want?"

"Let me go." his whispered, shaking terribly as his mother held him.

Growling, fist quivering, her knuckles turning white. Why? Why did he refuse to face the truth! He was a mutant! He wasn't going to be safe anywhere. He may be able to fake being normal, but sooner or later, everyone would find out and that would be the end of him. Why couldn't he see that? She released him, pushing him back angrily, "Let you go? Dear boy, haven't you realized?" she chuckled, nastily, "You're my son. I'll never let you go."

"Mom?" Ranma shuddered, his ire near its breaking point. "Kiss my ass."

* * *

><p>"Ranma, Ranma, Ranma." Nabiki sighed, her frustration for the pigtailed jock was at an all time high. He had become reclusive and depressed: almost as if everyone had turned against him, and he couldn't deal with it in his usual manner. Which wasn't true, but it was the reason, she knew, for his recent problems with Akane and for his inaction with Kuno. Which just begged the question of why. What did Akane and Kuno have to do with his bad mood?<p>

No, that wasn't the right direction. The boy had started acting this way when he returned from the hospital, so that was where it all likely started up. She wasn't use to the jock of all people confusing her like this, and found to her endless frustration, she just could figure out what the hell was going on.

Her biggest obstacle to solving the mystery was the lack of allies, so to speak. It galled her to no end when everyone seemed to accept Nodoka's story at face value, even when she pointed out obvious half truths in her words. Akane might have believed her at first, but she was in no mood to deal with anything pigtailed related. The girl was just a bundle of nerves; nearly snapping at anyone who even mentioned the guy's name. She knew her sister was hurting through all this, which was just another incentive to find out what was bothering the guy. Solve the problem, and help her sister. It was just that easy. Now if only he'd show up.

"We take you now to Mt. Fuji, where the convention to decide the ultimate fate of the Mutant Screening Bill, proposed by Taisa Takahashi, will be met. Inchinada, how are things on sight?"

Nabiki blanched. And then there were her own problems to deal with. This mutant screening bill was nothing more then a green flag for anti-mutant supporters to go nuts. The fact the contents of said Bill were largely classified provided enough screaming evidence to support her theory; What better way to surprise your enemies, then for them not to know it's coming, and in what form?

"Things have heated up in the last hour or so. Runners have been coming and going with seemingly no pattern to it. Ten minutes ago key speaker Isaruu Daigouji, of the Mutants Rights core formed by the Industrial Giant Syntech, walked out of hearings abruptly. Now, he didn't have any comments for reporters, but with the exit of Japans leading mutant sympathizer, it indicates things are not looking well for the Sympathetic Party. Back to you, Braska."

"Oh my." Kasumi sighed, "It's so sad."

Sighing, Nabiki grabbed her books from the floor. "I'll be in my room."

* * *

><p>The phone rang. Musashi sighed, stamping out his cigarette and answering it, "Musashi speaking."<p>

"Deploy." Takahashi's voice immediately identified. So this was it.

"Primary targets?"

"Affirmative. Wait for further instructions. Out." the line went dead.

"Heh." he sighed, "This is it."

* * *

><p>Nodoka was in no mood to deal with her son. The mule was truly Genma's child; he inherited all the worse parts. Stubborn, overconfident, and overwhelmingly aggravating when he wanted to be. Things may be going to fast for the boy to keep up, but he had to learn things weren't just going to slowly build up. She supposed she should feel pity for him, but the times were too dire. It was only a matter of time until shit hit the fan, minutes, days, weeks, who knew how much time she had left to convince him he was already involved, and no amount of whining was going to get him out of it.<p>

She startled, torn from her thoughts at the insistent ringing of her phone. Sighing, she picked it up, "Saotome Residence, Nodoka speaking."

"The ink is dry." was the only words spoken before the other line was cut.

She slammed the phone down, "Shit."

* * *

><p>"Officer on deck!"<p>

Musashi couldn't contain his zeal, taking long, hurried steps down the ranks of solders to either side. They were all trained killers, the product of a civilization who had finally ultimately condemned mutant kind. The best of the best, gathered in installations like these all over the country. They were to be the figurative hammer, slamming upon the nails that were mutants. Smothering them, bringing true annihilation to the weak bloods.

Oooh! He was so giddy he felt butterflies in his stomach!

"Major Sho!"

A man, roughly 5'7 in height, military cut and an all around hard figure. He was Major Sho, commander of Alpha Squad and charged with the eradication of mutants on the motherland.

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Have your men been briefed on their target?"

"Sir, yes sir! Lieutenant's Nimonia and Ishii have been dispatched, currently in route to Primary targets two, and three. Sir!"

Musashi grunted, "Excellent Major."

"Sir, I have not been informed of my target, sir!"

Musashi smirked, "Saotome, Ranma. Kill the others."

Sho frowned dangerously, "Sir, has target been scanned for the X-gene, sir?"

"Yes he has." Musashi waved him off, "He's clean. A simple acquire and retrieve operation. These orders come from Tasai Takahashi himself, Major."

The soldier nodded, "Sir, I understand, Sir."

"Good."

* * *

><p>Sakura Nimonia was a solider first and foremost. Death before dishonor, these were the words she lived by, these were the words she expected everyone, both under her command, and those living the civilian life, to follow. The mutants have been claimed a danger to the Diet, to the very world. To have the chance to cleanse the herd, to cull the weak dishonorable blood from the greater whole was more then her duty, it was her divine honor!<p>

She was also a strikingly beautiful woman, with raven black hair that shimmered in the high noon sun, bountiful breasts, long legs, and full pouting lips. She had many nicknames among the soldiers in her troupe. White snake, White Widow, White death, and many other variations of White. She prided herself on her purity, both of mind and body. She was a true implement of Kami-sama, and now that the word from on high had been passed down, it was time to descend upon the Lambs.

"Sir!" one of her aids called out. "All troops present and accounted for. Squad Beta, and Theta have encircled the complex, with Zeta squad set up in prime sniping conditions surrounding all ways in, and out of that building."

"And Yoku?"

"He's in the PAS, waiting for deployment."

"Understood. Hold positions until my command."

"Sir yes sir!"

No one paid any mind to the duck with coke bottle size glasses running into the building.

* * *

><p>Katshuhito Ishii wasn't recruited for his discipline, for his devotion to the Diet, or any such nonsense. Killing for the benefit of anyone other then himself was a waste of time in his eyes. No, he wasn't recruited for such noble notions as pride and honor, but for his patience. The son of an educator, he had grown up within a strict environment, with parents who demanded complete obedience and tact from their children at all times. Putting up with their abuse for twenty four years had taught him that one, valuable trait. Considering the target, and his habit of vanishing for weeks at a time, Ishii knew only a patient man had a chance of catching the wayward wanderer.<p>

"Hibiki, Ryoga, you have to come home some time."

* * *

><p>Silently, she climbed out her window, reached back into her room and bringing out a large back pack stuffed with her belongings.<p>

So, it had finally come to this, had it? She was no fool, it was simply a matter of time until the Bill would be passed, and open hunting season would be called on everyone with the X-gene. It would be better to run now, get as much distance between herself and the government that would betray her before they finally did.

Quickly donning her back, she crawled towards the very edge. Hesitantly, she kneeled down, slowly lowering herself over the side. When she could lower herself no more, she gritted her teeth and let go. Slamming into the ground, she resisted the urge to hiss as her legs flared in pain. She really wish she had her sisters strength of body.

Nabiki quickly tip toed across the yard, lest anyone spotted her in her escape. Once at the back door, she stole a glance back to the house that had been her home all her life. Memorized its faults, its craftsmanship, every little nook and cranny that had been crammed with cheap plaster, a testament to the amount of repairs the old house had gone through of late. She'd miss this place. Miss her family, miss the adventures, miss everything and everyone. She hoped the letter she left would explain things enough so they'd understand her reasoning. It was do or die, now.

* * *

><p>"Yoku."<p>

The sharp hiss of his radio sounded, "Yoku, reporting."

"Begin scanning establishment for mutants." Sakura ordered, the large truck behind her shaking suddenly as the large behemoth shifted to do as ordered.

"Affirmative. Scanning now."

The restaurant appeared designed for the low level consumer, with various signs proclaiming specials posted about the windows and busy with the coming and going of patrons, all of which were either ignorant of her troops presents, or just outright ignored it. Not that she cared, to her they were behaving like traditional Japanese citizens, loyal to a fault, untainted by the blood of Caine.

"Scan complete. Negative mutant detection." Yuko's voice came over the radio.

"Understood. Beta, Theta, proceed with capture and retrieval. Keep those gun's safety on, and only shoot if given no other options. These aren't mutants. Zeta, remain in position. Fire on my orders, and my orders alone."

"Sir!"

* * *

><p>"QUACK! QUACK!"<p>

"Chow Mein, pick up!" Cologne shouted, ignoring the frantic blabbering duck as she busied herself in the kitchen. "And you, Mr. Part Time, get me some more spice from the pantry!"

"QUACK! QAAAAAAAAAAAAAUCK!" Mousse frantically shouted, hopping from one webbed foot to the other, exclaiming urgency.

Cologne frowned, hopping off the counter next to the duck, "I'm sensing you have something to tell me?"

"QUAAAAACK! QUACK! QUACK!"

"I see.." she sighed, shaking her head sadly, "You know I can't understand a word you're saying."

"...Quack.."

Suddenly the windows exploded inward, men dressed in black and grey camouflage suits flipping in. Surprised, the customers screamed in terror when they brought sub-machine guns out.

Quickly, Cologne jumped back to the counter, assessing the situation.

Shampoo was struggling to her feet, looking dazed. Probably caught in the explosion.

Customers were panicking, screaming, and making a chaotic mess out of everything.

Mousse was Quacking up a storm, rolling his eyes at her. Is this what he wanted to warn her about?

"EVERYONE IS UNDER ARREST!"

Cologne raised an eyebrow. She had just been considering who was attacking them. Her thoughts had ranged from Shinobi, to Terrorists, to some poor slob who had gotten food poisoning here last month and wanted revenge. She never really expected the police to be involved in this. "Okay..." Did they really have to blow out her windows?

* * *

><p>The drive from Nero had been uneventful, something Sho was insanely glad for. With the Mutant Screening bill passing, he had expected the mutants infesting Japan to run or riot, causing untold damage and who knew how many deaths in the wake of their passing. Mutant Screening. Just a phrase designed to protect the weak minds of the masses. They may as well call it cleansing, because thats what it was. Orders to locate mutants, shoot if they even give the slightest hint of resistance, or deliver them to a 'Containment' camp. Just another word for concentration camp, but only he and the upper brass actually realized that.<p>

His radio hissed. "Bravo company reporting. Primary targets Three present and accounted for. Transferring prisoners to Nero containment station four. Negative Mutant activity. Nimonia out."

Sho smiled. No one had to die so far, good news if he ever heard any. If the other primary targets fell just as easily, then the mutant menace would be dealt with quickly, and efficiently, once they coerced and trained them, anyway.

"Sir, we're coming up to the targets." his driver informed him.

"Pull over here Sergeant." he grunted, pointing to a spot thirty yards from their Target, the Tendo Dojo. Picking up his radio, he ordered, "Snipers, set up a open one hundred meters from target in all directions, two hundred meters separate of each other. Infantry, encircle the compound. Yamazaki..." he blinked, catching sight of a teenage girl in his review mirror, lugging a rather large overstuffed backpack down the street, "... Yamazaki. Begin sweeping the compound and adjacent area's for the mutant gene."

"Affirmative."

As the truck pulled to a stop, Sho shot his driver a serious look, "Have the PAS ready to deploy at a moments notice. This is our number one priority target, lets not get careless."

"Sir!" The driver quickly relayed that order.

"Scanning." came the mechanical reply though his radio.

* * *

><p>Ranma frowned, peering over the edge of the roof he was on, "What the heck did the old ghoul do now?" He had arrived just in time to see Cologne, Shampoo, and a struggling duck being carted from the restaurant, a rather large mass of people being loaded into another van, and enough soldiers with uzis to take over the district! What the hell's going on?<p>

When the news vans started pulling up, he decided it was time to make a hasty exit.

-0-0-0-

"Scanning complete. Targets three, five, and six carry dormant X-genes. Targets One, and four not present. Target two scans negative."

Sho cursed. Shit! Their target wasn't even here!

"Permission to breach?"

So their target wasn't there just then, he was willing to bet from the profile on the boy if they caused enough noise he'd come running. He wasn't about to fail his first time out. "Confirmed. Remember, target two from briefing is not a mutant, let's not kill our own kind, gentlemen."

"Sir!"

"Yamazaki, deploy."

"Affirmative." Yamazaki replied, just before a loud humming sound began to generate from the truck, which began to shake and vibrate as it's massive cargo began to come alive. The trucks rear end blew our, metal twisting, screaming it's sorrowful cry as a large black hand broke free from it's confines, followed it's feet breaking through the bottom, destroying the truck's rear axel, before the roof met a similar fate as the giant Black Sentinel with red trimmings stood tall and proud.

People stopped where they were, watching in mute fascinated horror as the thing from what they could only describe as a hellish dream came alive. Each step it took left a deep booted imprint in the street, it's hellish golden eyes glowing with evil intent as it rounded the truck, and began moving towards the Tendo compound.

"The sleeping Giant has awoken." Sho smirked viciously.

* * *

><p>Things were quickly spiraling out of control for her, Nodoka realized as she hastened her journey to the Tendos. With the bill signed, it was only a matter of time until they showed up and attacked. Being in bed with the Agency had given her much information concerning attack scenarios once the bloody thing had started. The Tendos, or more importantly, her son had been targeted for retrieval and reeducation. They had planned to turn him into the perfect killing machine, along with other members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew, as the top brass called them. She couldn't allow that to happen, not now. If her son hadn't become a mutant, she might of been able to live with the knowledge that he would be turned to hunt her, and her kind down till his death. But he was a mutant, which only guaranteed him death, swiftly, and as painful as possible.<p>

In such a hurry, she failed to watch exactly where she was going. When she rounded the corner leading to the Tendo Dojo, she ran face first into Nabiki, the sudden jolt surprising her, both women falling to the ground in a heap.

"Ow!"

"Nabiki!"

Nabiki winced. She had been hoping to make a clean getaway, but it seemed at least one person had managed to spot her. And it was Nodoka of all people. Perfect, "Ah... sorry Auntie." she pulled herself up, leaning over to help the older woman, "Guess I wasn't watching where I was..."

The sound of metal ripping, twisting, and being torn apart ended her sentence right then and there. She turned and looked back towards her home and watched, horrified, as a metal monster tore through free of a truck and began to rise.

Nodoka cursed, "Shit! Too late!"

Had Nabiki been in her right state of mind, she would have been shocked to hear the woman sound off like that, but she wasn't in her right state of mind. Panic, fear, anxiety, all of which descended upon her as she watched one of the weapons designed to personally kill off her, and other mutants like her. "I... I've got to run!" she jerked her hands away from Nodoka.

As Nabiki reached for her pack, Nodoka grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against the wall, hard, "Nabiki!" she hissed, dangerously, "Have you seen Ranma? He wasn't at your house, was he?"

"Ranma?" Nabiki blinked, then scowled as she tried to break Nodoka's hold, "Who gives a shit about Ranma? Let me go damn it, before it notices me!"

Blinking, Nodoka turned towards the Sentinel, then towards Nabiki. Of course... "You're a mutant, aren't you."

"YES!" Nabiki screamed, desperately trying to get away. Who knew a woman like Nodoka could be so damn strong?

Nodoka shuddered, pulling Nabiki back some, before slamming her up against the wall again, "Dear god! Do you have any idea what this means? They... they're dead... they're all going to be killed!" If Nabiki was a mutant, that meant Akane and Kasumi had the gene as well. She knew the Sentinels, knew enough about them to know they could detect a dormant gene as well as an active one. Which meant...

"Who? Who's dead?"

Nodoka's grip weakened, "Ever... everyone..."

A brief, but bright flash of light shined from the Tendo Compound blinding them both momentarily as the metal robot fired some kind of weapon into the courtyard

It was too late... too late. She couldn't save them. There was nothing she could do... Looking towards Nabiki, who had grown silent and watched in morbid fascination, Nodoka's resolve firmed. She couldn't save the others, but... maybe, just maybe she could save her. "Nabiki!" she hissed. The girl remained unresponsive, so Nodoka slapped her, "Nabiki!"

"Wha?" she looked up at the older woman, undisguised fear raging through her eyes, her body shuddering as she held in the sudden overpowering horror and fear at what was happening.

"Listen to me. And listen close. Grab your bag, and run. Run, don't stop until you reach my house." she looked back down the street, scowling, "When I find Ranma, we'll find a way to get out of this. I promise."

"Wha... bu.." Nabiki's words fell silent as the woman holding her melted away, her form shifting to that of a man wearing a military battle dress uniform.

"Now go!" the man hissed, pushing her away as he ran down the street.

Shocked, Nabiki stumbled backwards, pack firmly in hand.

... Nodoka was a mutant?

* * *

><p>A few minutes Earlier<p>

Genma blinked, head snapping up and to the right as the sickening sound of metal being twisted and broken reached his ears. Senses coming to full alert in an instant, he managed to catch a glint from the sun. "What the..."

"Something's wrong." Soun frowned.

"No, really?" Genma bit off sarcastically, walking away from their Shogi game into the yard, where he jumped up and landed on the wall.

"See anything?"

"No, there isn't..." Genma's words were cut off as a blob of green goo rocketed from his side, slamming into him, before carrying him back down to the ground and solidifying

"SAOTOME!" Soun raced towards his friend. The goo began to harden quickly, far too quickly for either of the men to do anything about it. When a large shadow appeared overhead, Soun gulped, nervously turning around to face a metal monster, it's arm extended downward, hand no more then a foot from his face. "Uh..." When a small hole opened at the base of it's palm and began to glow dangerously, he knew there would be no escape.

Genma watched, horrified as a bright pink beam of light tore from the monsters palm, engulfing his friend in a deadly conflagration of hot death. Soun, from his waist and up, was vaporized, his useless legs falling to the ground, twitching.

The cold metal monster spoke, "Target six, neutralized. Target Two, incapacitated."

"GO GO GO GO GO!" Men, dressed in the military uniform of his country, began pouring into the Tendo compound, all armed with sub machine guns and grenades strapped to their chests. "Fine targets three and five! PURGE THE MUTANT GENE!"

Genma, unable to move do to the gel, only managed a glimpse of a Japanese military office from the side of his eye giving the orders. He dimly heard the words he spoke, and rage began to build up in his chest, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING! LEAVE THEM ALONE!"

The mechanical beast above him shifted its gaze from the house, to Genma, lying helplessly in Bakali, trapped within the stasis goo. It made no other motions.

* * *

><p>Ranma gave the man a weird look. It was strange to find anyone on the roof tops aside from him and the others. The man was lying down, a large rather deadly looking rifle held snug against his shoulder, his attention completely focused on the task at hand. What was he looking at. Following his gaze, Ranma blinked. A huge robot lookin head was sticken up, about a hundred meters away. Weird. "Hey man..."<p>

Kaito blinked, slowly turning towards whoever the hell had managed to sneak up on him, "Uh..."

"What's going on?" The kid motioned towards what he had been aiming at, "We being invaded?"

"Kid." Kaito snorted, turning back, "This area's quarantined, get out of here before you get hurt."

Ranma frowned, glancing back to the metal behemoth. Just what the hell was going on... and hey, wait a minute... wasn't that... the TENDO'S YARD?"

* * *

><p>"She's not in the living room!" she heard some one shout.<p>

Kasumi whimpered, hiding in the kitchen behind the counters, her mothers steel cutting knife held shakily in her grips.

She had been cleaning the kitchen when everything started, looking up just in time to watch her fathers death at the hand of a giant metal monster. Fear gripped her heart, and she sought a place to hide.

"Upstairs! GO GO GO GO!" The harsh sound of boots slamming on the stairs, followed by the sound of doors being broken in, filled her with panic. She was so scared... so scared! She didn't want to die! She didn't want to...

"So this is where you were hiding."

Kasumi cried, looking up into the cold eyes of who she knew would be her killer. The man lifted his sub machine gun, pointing it directly in her face. "Good night." and fired. The woman jerked back and fell, blood splattering the cupboards and floor. The Soldier clicked his radio, "Target five has been neutralized."

"HYAAA!" Akane slammed her fist down, decimating the stone cinder blocks like nothing. When that idiot got back, she was going to give him a peace of her mind! Couldn't that jerk see he was hurting her? Why couldn't he just apologize? Every time she saw him, the pain he caused her when she thought he was dead would flare up, hurting her even more. Damn, she really needed to find that jerk and make him apologize.

A loud swish followed by a flash of light caught her attention. She barely heard some one yell, "Leave them alone!"

"What the heck?" Akane blinked. That was Uncle Saotome! What the heck was going on? Inching towards the door, she carefully pressed her ear up to the hard surface.

"GO GO GO GO GO!"

"Find targets three and five! PURGE THE MUTANT GENE!"

"What the.." she mouthed, glancing at the door in confusion. Just what the heck was going on?

"Sir! Target Five has been neutralized!"

"Hah! Bring her body out here."

Fear gripped at her heart. Purge? Kill? Terminated? Against her better judgement, she carefully, ever so carefully slid the Dojo door open just a peak. At first she couldn't see much of anything, but as she moved around and repositioned herself, she caught sight of Uncle Saotome encased in some type of green goo on the far side of the yard. There was a lump of something near him, but she couldn't make it out from where she was. Two soldiers appeared, carrying a body by its shoulders and feet. Confused, she leaned against the door some more, trying to get a better look. Wait... isn't that Kasumi's dress?

"Here's number five." one of the men in black grunted, the two soldiers dumping Kasumi on the ground.

"KASUMI! YOU BASTARDS! I'LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR TO GOD!" Genma cried, eyes unable to break away from the sight of Kasumi, dead, her face nothing more then a tortured mess of broken bones, blood, and torn meat.

"Ka... Ka... Kasumi!" Fear gripped her heart, in surprise she fell back, eyes open wide in horrified realization at what was going on. "Dead... dead..."

The door to the dojo slammed open, the same men in black who had tossed Kasumi like a piece of meat staring at her, guns slowly rising.

"Here's number three." the raised their guns and opened fire.

* * *

><p>As the sound of automatic gunfire reached his ears, Ranma launched into action, grabbing the soldier by the shirt and pulling him up viciously. Caught by surprise, Kaito didn't even so much as react as the boy decked him.<p>

Dropping the soldiers unconscious body, the jock took off at high speeds for the Dojo. "I'm coming guys! I'm coming!"

* * *

><p>Fuel by rage at the sight of her murdered sister, Akane found herself immersed in her element. As the men pressed the trigger, she was already moving, faster then she ever moved before as she flowed into her attacks. Ducking low, she slammed a fist into the first mans unguarded stomach, following with a lightning fast jump kick to the other mans head. The sickening sound of his neck snapping was ignored. They had attacked first, they had killed her sister, and if the sickening realization she was feeling was true, her father too. She would have vengeance.<p>

Even the sight of the huge mechanical monster didn't phase her. Too enraptured by the rage, the burning desire for revenge, Akane pushed into the yard.

Sho's eyebrow rose, "All personal, fire at will!" Barking his order, Sho had unintentionally made himself Akane's focus of rage. This was the man! This was the bastard who killed her sister! He would pay, by all might God, HE WOULD PAY!

Flowing forward, unmindful of the bullets singing through the air, missing here by only scant millimeters, she came upon the first set of Soldiers seeking to bar her path forward. Slapping the first mans gun to the side, unintentionally mowing down a group of three men running out of the house to join the fight, she followed through with an upwards palm thrust to the mans face, placed carefully just below the bridge of his nose.

A loud snap echoed in her ears as she finished her strike. Nose broken, cartilage shoved straight up into the man's brain, she knew he was no longer a threat. Pushing him to the side, she was forced to leap left, and then roll back to the right as automatic gunfire trailed her every move. Coming to her feet by the second soldier seeking to impede her progress, she once again leapt into the air, delivering a brutal spin kick to the soldiers face, dropping him like a sack of bricks.

Six down, more to come. Seeing her path towards Sho clear, she took off at a dead run. This bastard would pay! Pay for everything! Pay for hurting her family!

Sho had seen some strange things in his life, but the image of a little girl brutally beating and killing his men wasn't something he ever envisioned. And now that girl was charging him. Yamazaki didn't have a prayer of stopping the girl either, the PAS only now slowly moving to intercept.

Akane screamed in rage as she neared her target, form cocooned in a strange blue light as she neared him.

In lightning fast motions, Sho pulled his personal sidearm free, aimed directly at the girl charging him and fired repeatedly. The girl staggered, taking bullet after bullet until she finally fell, her forward motion causing her to slide a good ten feet before coming to a stop. Sho didn't take a chance, lining his shot and pulling the trigger several more times as he unloaded the clip into the girl.

Click, click the gun went as he ran out of bullets. Shot pressed his radio, barking "Target three, neutralized!"

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><p>To be Continued (You bet your ass it will)<p>

AN: Revised bit here. I actually had more trouble editing this then I thought I would. I knew when I began this particular chapter would give me problems as, while I do not like Akane, killing her, Kasumi, and Soun was a bit tougher then I expected. Which is weird, when I originally wrote this I didn't really give a spit except for Kasumi. Guess my cold black heart is thawing some-what.


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